Quote :

Seven crew members have been airlifted to safety from a grounded ship off the North Wales coast. The A55 remains closed in both directions while efforts to re-float the stranded vessel continue, with pollution control experts on standby. Cargo ship MV Carrier hit rocks at Llanddulas near Colwyn Bay in rough seas on Tuesday evening, sparking the rescue of the seven crew members by RAF helicopter. Today engineers will assess the damage to the ship, though strong winds and rough seas remain a problem for those trying to secure the vessel, which is carrying 40,000 litres of fuel. An eyewitness at the scene said there was a strong smell of fuel in the air.

A Holyhead Coastguard spokesman said the 82m long ship is in one piece following last night’s incident, but there are growing concerns that it could begin to leak some of the 40,000 litres of fuel it is carrying. Two lifeboats and two helicopters were involved in the dramatic rescue of the seven Polish crew members after the vessel got into difficulties as the Welsh coast was battered by gale force nine winds and 20ft swells. Five of the seamen were rescued by a Royal Navy Sea King rescue helicopter scrambled from RNAS Prestwick. But the aircraft developed a problem with its winch wire, forcing rescue co-ordinators to send out a second helicopter from RAF Leconfield to collect the remaining two crew members. The crew were taken uninjured to North Wales Police headquarters in Colwyn Bay. The Coastguard spokesman said: “At 8.15pm last night Liverpool Coastguard received a distress call from the ship telling them they had run aground at Raynes Jetty, Llanddulas. “A strong gale was blowing and a five metre swell was reported. All seven of the Polish crew were taken uninjured from the ship by two rescue helicopters.”

The Welsh Government said it was “closely monitoring” the situation and being kept fully informed of developments. All-weather lifeboats from Llandudno and Rhyl were also launched at 8.30pm to offer assistance to the rescued crew, the MCA said. The ship, which is registered in Antigua and Barbuda, was carrying a cargo of stone from the adjacent quarry, is now resting against concrete blocks on the beach at Llanddulas, which runs adjacent to the A55. The A55 was closed to allow emergency workers safe access to the vessel. Both carriageways remain closed and officials will reassess the situation at 10am. Coastguards, North Wales Fire Service, ambulance and police officers remain at the scene along with Highways Agency officers. The reason for the ship running aground was not yet clear and an investigation by the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch will be launched later.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=VI-20120404-34769-GBR

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/apr/04/stricken-ship-leaks-fuel-wales?newsfeed=true (Piccy)



Jane

Thanks for posting Jane.
Good to see there are no casualties .... and that they received help. I reckon the coastguard is brilliant , still a functioning service.
(one wonders if the pilot was stoned too.)

Not again

@ Grem...what do you mean? When was the last one?

Jane

angelchemuel wrote:

@ Grem...what do you mean? When was the last one?

Jane

Their have been quite a few over the years. That's what I meant.

gremlin wrote:

angelchemuel wrote:

@ Grem...what do you mean? When was the last one?

Jane

Their have been quite a few over the years. That's what I meant.

Ah ok...the Menai straits and coastal waters around Anglesey are notorious. Apparently if you can sail round Anglesey you can sail anywhere according to some racing yaghtsmen I know!

I come from a lond line of sea captains on my grandads side, and my dad got his men out of Japan in a single rib all the way to Aus in WW2

Jane

ship ran aground
crew members airlifted to safety

guys... you can just walk.

Here is a very good bit of kit to find out exactly where ships are in UK waters. Not only the position , but the name of the ship and other nice bits of info.

Spot on if your a UK pirate arrrrrrrrgh



So you click on the link and scroll across the top boxes to Shipping and weather. Then scroll down first box Current ship positions. Then just use the slide to zoom out a bit and lots of arrows will come up. The index is on the right all self explanatory.

Have fun

http://www.gloucesterharbourtrustees.org.uk/

thats pretty cool, in a trainspotty kinda way. lol im bookmarking it anyway.

There's another link...trying to find where the heck I put it that will ive you global shipping....it makes for very interesting reading/looking...the military ships etc around Gulf of Asen...you know next to Somalia are missing! Not spooky...just done that way so that the 'pirates' in that area have no idea where the military are so the whole area is blank.

Also considering the Suez canal is the busiest shipping lane in the world...it looks pretty empty!

I'll post the link as soon as I find it

Jane

Here's the Liverpool one that covers the UK

http://www.shipais.com/

sorry guys, can't find the other one

Jane

angelchemuel wrote:

Here's the Liverpool one that covers the UK

http://www.shipais.com/

sorry guys, can't find the other one

Jane

Tbh its a great facility for a terrorist to use, same as google street map. Gives you a good basic heads up.

*takes notes*