Eight people winched to safety by search and rescue helicopter

The HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Stornoway winched all of the eight-person crew to safety from a cargo vessel which had ran aground in adverse weather conditions in the early hours of Monday (23rd March).

Despite strong winds and complete darkness, the helicopter was able to successfully evacuate all on-board. Portree RNLI lifeboat were also involved in the rescue.

The vessel, which made contact with the Coastguard and reported taking on water, now remains on hard ground at Sgeir Graidach rock in the Minch in north-west Scotland - and is being monitored by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency's Emergency Towing Vessel, Ievoli Black.

Watch the video of the helicopter airlifting one crew member from the vessel below:


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New website to boost maritime economy bringing business to UK

Image
The UK Shipping Concierge has launched a website designed to support and encourage maritime businesses looking to work in or with the UK. Officially launching today (19 June), the website will act as an information hub for maritime businesses, ship owners and operators, ensuring they get the right help at the right time helping both them and the wider UK economy. As part of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the UK Shipping Concierge uses the agency’s maritime expertise as well as its place in wider Government to strengthen the attraction to businesses to come and work with and relocate to – where practical - the UK. The website supports the maritime offer by creating a link between the maritime industry and government, as well as providing advice and information around industry related subjects including maritime technology, Tonnage Tax and freeports. Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Virginia McVea said: “The UK has much to offer maritime with world le
Read more

Five ships detained after inspection following concerns raised about crew welfare

Image
Five out of the six ships inspected today by Maritime and Coastguard Agency surveyors have been detained. The Astoria, Astor, Colombus and Vasco de Gama at Tilbury have all been detained. The Marco Polo at Bristol has also been detained following its inspection. All five are from the same company – Global Cruise Lines Limited. Four of the vessels are flagged with the Bahamas and one with Portugal (Madeira) . Surveyors found a number of expired and invalid Seafarers Employment Agreements, late payment of wages and crews who had been on board for over 12 months. All these are in breach of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) and the ships have been detained for that reason.  Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said: “The welfare of seafarers is of the utmost importance and we take any reports of safety concerns around crew incredibly seriously. "Following today’s investigation, five ships have been detained and we will not hesitate to continue to use every power
Read more

Oral exams to be held online under plans from Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Image
Engineering oral exams will commence online from 11 May under new plans announced by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. In addition, the MCA is also actively working on plans to provide an online way of carrying out Deck oral exams. Marine offices will get in contact with candidates who had previously had theirs cancelled to arrange new dates but everyone is being asked not to get in touch while the backlog is cleared. Katy Ware, Director of Maritime Safety and Standards said: ‘We completely understand people are anxious to get their all important exams done but we can’t accept any new oral exam bookings until we have cleared the backlog of those who had theirs cancelled because of Covid-19.’ ‘We will publish a MIN later this month to provide further guidance on accepting new applications for oral exams. The MIN will also provide timelines for the future booking of exams; for those who hold Notice of Eligibilities (NOEs), those who have applied for NOEs and those who are abou
Read more