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STRATHELLIOT - A446
- Owner: Guest
- Uploaded: Jun 01 2010 06:12 AM
- Views: 952
- Category: Aberdeen (A)
STRATHELLIOT - A446 in Buckie Harbour, Scotland on 11th May 2010.
Former Name: Valmark
IMO 7404750
MMSI No. 235070438
Call Sign 2FGM
Main Gear type : OTB - Bottom otter trawls
Owner/Operator: Strathelliot Fishing - Aberdeen
Built: 1974-06 R. Dunston Ltd. - Thorne Yard/hull No.: T1319
Hull Material:Steel; Hull Connections:Welded; Decks:1 dk
Length Overall 22.400
Length (BP) 20.500
Length (Reg) 21.490
Breadth Extreme 6.540
Breadth Moulded 6.450
Draught 2.590
Depth 3.300
Gross 123
Net 48
Formula Deadweight 192
1 oil engine driving 1 FP propeller
Total Power: Mcr 313kW (426hp)
Design: Caterpillar, Engine Builder: Caterpillar Inc. - Peoria, Illinois
1 x D353SCAC, 4 Stroke, Single Acting, In-Line (Vertical)
6 Cy. 159 x 203, Mcr: 313 kW (426 hp)
Skipper forced to jump from sinking trawler
owner ushers crew to safety but stays on board in bid to save boat
By stephen christie
Published: 26/04/2011
A skipper told last night how he fought to save his stricken trawler as she started sinking in the North Sea.
While three of the crew climbed aboard a liferaft, Donald Anderson struggled in vain to save the Strathelliot, which had sprung a leak 90 miles north-east of Fraserburgh.
“That was our livelihoods and now we’re all out of work,” said the 32-year-old skipper last night.
The crew of the Aberdeen-registered trawler, which regularly fishes out of Peterhead, scrambled into survival suits and climbed into the liferaft.
They were plucked to safety by the Banff boat Sardonyx.
The incident on Sunday afternoon led to a major rescue effort involving an RAF helicopter from Lossiemouth.
Mr Anderson alerted Aberdeen Coastguard and the crew of the Sardonyx, which was fishing nearby.
Last night the skipper, who stays near the village of Keiss, in Caithness, said his first thought was for the safety of his crew, which included his 63-year-old father, Charlie.
“The boat just started flooding and our pumps couldn’t cope,” he said.
“I told the boys to get in the liferaft and I stayed on board for another 30 minutes or so – I thought there was still a chance I could save her.
“I gave the boys a knife and told them to cut the raft free of the boat if she started to capsize.
“It got to the point that she was listing so heavily that it was far too dangerous so I jumped in the raft.”
Mr Anderson, who has worked on boats since he was 18, said the incident came as a “huge shock”.
“I had a dedicated crew, we were very close-knit.
“It’s one of those things you always hear about but never think is going to happen to you.”
The other men on board Strathelliot were William Low, 50, from Dundee, and Arbroath man Miles Black, also 50.
Sardonyx skipper Tommy Mearns, 54, said it had been an emotional time for all involved.
Mr Mearns, of Archibald Grove, Buckie, said: “They were in serious trouble and fighting a losing battle.
“Donald decided to battle on and save the boat. His livelihood was sinking before his eyes.”
Mr Mearns and his crew of four pulled the men and their raft on board the Sardonyx.
The Sardonyx skipper added: “They were all pretty shaken up, you could tell it was an emotional thing for them to go through. Donald, in particular, was distraught.
“When you work on fishing boats, they very quickly become your home, your office, your life.
“On this occasion that was all lost in a matter of minutes.”
The Strathelliot was last seen around 3pm.
The Sardonyx, with the rescued fishermen on board, arrived at Peterhead harbour at 3am yesterday.
None of the stricken trawler’s crew required medical treatment.
A spokesman for Aberdeen Coastguard said: “A rescue helicopter from RAF Lossie-mouth was deployed with pumps on board but stood down after it emerged the boat had sunk and her crew had been rescued.”
The Department for Transport’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is now probing the sinking.
The 70ft boat was registered in Aberdeen.
Read more: http://www.pressandj...=#ixzz1KcAWzYkH