Severe Weather Impacts Shipping

 Her Majesty’s Coastguard continues to respond to a variety of weather related incidents during this period of stormy weather in the UK. 


Conditions at sea in the far North of Scotland were severe with forecasts of up to Storm Force 10 and on Saturday 31st October, HM Coastguard tasked the Emergency Towing Vessel, (ETV) IEVOLI BLACK to proceed to the assistance of a large cargo vessel with engine failure North West of the Shetland Isles.  On 1st November, the vessel reported to HM Coastguard that repairs had been successfully completed and the vessel continued her voyage and the ETV was stood down. HMCG continues to monitor the vessel’s passage.  

HM Coastguard also continues to monitor two separate incidents involving the loss of containers from container ships, both in the Pentland Firth and also in the Bristol Channel. In Scotland, shipping containers are adrift in the Pentland Firth after being lost from a container ship on Saturday 31st October.  33 containers have been confirmed as lost and two of these 40 foot containers have been reported ashore in South Hoy, Orkney. The ETV is acting as a guard vessel in the Pentland Firth, and the Northern Lighthouse Board is also assisting with the search.  The Northern Lighthouse Board's vessel PHAROS is scheduled to take over guard vessel duty from the ETV later today.  A Coastguard aircraft is also conducting overflights of the area today (Sunday 1st November).

11 Containers were also lost from a different vessel on October 20th off the South West of England and the Bristol Channel.  The Maritime & Coastguard Agency’s Counter Pollution team, Trinity House, ship’s owners and insurers; and a number of commercial contractors – including chartered vessels – are engaged in ongoing searching and recovery and containers have come ashore in both Devon and Wales. Relevant authorities have been informed and are being regularly updated. The MCA’s specialist fixed-wing aircraft has been conducting overflights of areas, to assist in the search for containers. Local shipping warnings are continued to be issued by HM Coastguard to advise other vessel traffic in the area and contingency arrangements are under way for container recovery with salvage contractors. A Trinity House vessel is acting as a guard ship to assist in this task.


Gale warnings (in red) are in place from the Met Office for all areas through Sunday 1st November.

Ongoing Activity: 

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency’s Counter Pollution team has requested overflights of the areas where containers are still adrift, (when weather permits) to assist in the tracking of containers, and also to search for any that may have come ashore. Local shipping warnings continue to be issued by HM Coastguard to advise other vessel traffic in the areas affected.



Members of the public are urged to keep well clear of containers washed up ashore for their own safety and should be aware that contractors may be carrying out recovery work in the coming days.




For members of the public wishing to report a sighting, please contact the nearest Coastguard Operations Centre: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/maritime-and-coastguard-agency/about/access-and-opening

In Scotland contact:

Shetland Coastguard Operation Centre

Email:  CGOC.Shetland@mcga.gov.uk

Phone 01595 692976 

In South West England contact:

Falmouth Coastguard Operations Centre

Email:  CGOC.Falmouth@mcga.gov.uk
Tel:  01326 317 575

Milford Haven Coastguard Operations Centre
Email: CGOC.milfordhaven@mcga.gov.uk
Tel: 01646 690909

Popular posts from this blog

Label your kit at the coast

Image
Kayaks. Canoes. Paddleboards. What do they all have in common? They’re quite often found on the coastline or drifting out to sea. And if we don’t know who they belong to, we can spend time searching for an owner when they’re home safe and sound. So please help us to help you. Label your kit so that if you do get separated from it, and it turns up somewhere, we can get hold of you. In recent weeks, our Coastguard Rescue Teams have found numerous items such as kayaks and canoes drifting out at sea or abandoned near the shoreline. Unfortunately, some of the items we have found have not had their owners’ contact details written on them nor been reported as missing to the Coastguard. As a result, it makes it difficult for us to find out who it belongs to and also means we can never be completely sure if someone is safe or in the worst case, in trouble at sea. This can place a huge strain on our resources especially during the busy summer period when we have to call upon our Coastgua
Read more

A short history of HM Coastguard

Image
Today HM Coastguard is a world leader in maritime search and rescue. Looking back almost 200 years, the goods, which now travel by road, were carried by hundreds of small ships. Year in year out dozens of ships and hundreds of lives were lost within sight of the coast. Public shock and dismay at the tragedies drove forward the creation of national life saving organisations. Though it’s beginnings lie in those decades HM Coastguard originated not to meet the dangers of the seas but to combat a threat to the country’s economy and security – smuggling. As soon as medieval taxes were charged on imports and exports, people began smuggling. By 1743 th e estimate was that half the tea drunk in Britain was illegally imported and shows that smuggling was highly profitable. Smugglers have often been romanticised but the reality was brutal. Local people lived in fear, with violent reprisals on informers and the murder of revenue officers, while corruption enabled smugglers to evade harsh p
Read more

BOSCASTLE FLOODS: TEN YEARS ON

Image
Boscastle Flooding 16 th August 2004 The storms of Monday 16 August 2004 saw three weeks worth of rain fall in one day. The resulting water began to be funnelled down the valleys surrounding Boscastle and soon the steep roads became rivers. By the time that the water reached the picturesque village, it had picked up enough momentum to become a raging torrent, sweeping into buildings, washing cars away and felling huge trees. Graham King runs the Witches Museum in Boscastle and was also the station officer for the Boscastle Coastguard Rescue Team at the time of the floods: “ My museum is situated next to the harbour near the river ,” says Graham “ and I can see the coastguard equipment store from there. Initially I was concerned that the vehicle and equipment were going to become stranded but I soon began to realise how quickly the situation was deteriorating and called Falmouth Coastguard ” From that point on the villagers and tourists stranded in flood waters were he
Read more