Scotland: At 0150 on 18th February the 7,409gt/2000 built and 160 TEU Lysblink Seaways of DFDS ran aground near Ardnamurchan Point, north of the Isle of Mull, off the west coast of Scotland. The DFDS LogisitcsRederi AS ship developed a minor leak on the starboard side but pollution was considered to be a low risk by the MCA. DFDS appointed two salvage companies, Svitzer and Smit, with a team of two – Salvage Master and Naval Architect. The tugs Forth Jouster (255gt/2008 built) and Kingdom of Fife (1,459gt/2008 built) were sent to the scene with the MCA also tasking the 1,641gt/1980 built rescue tug vessel Herakles that was patrolling near Orkney.

The ship’s course did not follow the navigational route and she appeared to sail straight into the coast. The pollution situation worsened slightly so a boom was deployed and a temporary exclusion zone of 100 metres was established around the vessel. The 120m long ship refloated herself on a high tide on 19th February and was anchored in the Sound of Mull for inspection/repair. The vessel originally got into difficulty near Kilchoan and was en-route from Belfast to Skogn in Norway carrying around 50 tonnes of paper products.

Bad weather two days later caused the ship to drag her anchor so she was towed back out to sea 1.5 miles east of Kilchoan in Mingary Bay with her 9 crew on board. The salvage process was hampered by bad weather but once the 153 tons of fuel had been pumped from the ship the tug Kingdom of Fife towed the vessel on the afternoon of 25th February the 17 miles from Mingary Bay, which is 1.5 miles east of Kilchoan Pier, to a safe anchorage in Scallastle Bay. Here she was sheltered from further bad weather. The Herakles remained on standby during this operation. The Lysblink Seaways was towed to Inchgreen, Greenock for repairs on 4th March by tugs Luca (443gt/built 2000) and Afon Menai (190gt/built 2014) with the Forth Jouster providing support.

Two days after the above incident a Norwegian-flagged fish carrier, the 1,186gt Viktoria Lady, ran aground on rocks in Badcall Bay, approximately 20 miles northwest of Ullapool. The 53m long vessel had seven people aboard and was refloated and moved to anchor under her own power. There was no serious damage and an underwater inspection of the hull was carried out by divers. The 91m cargo ship Fri Sea ran aground at Corpach during manoeuvres on 7th March but was later refloated.

The Netherlands: On the afternoon of 20th February the tanker MT Leonardo collided with the Grimaldi Lines vehicle carrier Grande Africa in the Westerschelde estuary in southern Netherlands near the border with Belgium. The tanker was reported to have sustained severe damage in the collision and was taken to Antwerp whereas the car carrier sustained lesser damage.

Turkey: The 2,965gt/1983 built and Panamanian-flagged Gofer B ran ashore at the small fishing port of Karaburun on 10th February having run down some small boats in the bay. The empty and unmanned general cargo ship had previously been anchored off the shores of İzmir’s Çandarlı town before being dragged 25 miles by a storm. She was then seized before being anchored off Aliağa but was dragged yet again 9 days later.

The 23,240gt/2004 b uilt Marshall Islands-flagged tanker King Edward lost power in the Bosporus strait and was carried dangerously close to the coast by strong currents on 22nd February. The crew then managed to anchor the 182m ship that was en-route from Italy to Russia’s Black Sea Kavkaz port. Engine failure near Istanbul was the suspected cause of the incident and Turkey’s Maritime Safety Directorate sent tugs to tow the disabled vessel to Istanbul’s Yenikapi port.

Australia: On 28th February the 50,757gt/2003 built containership Maersk Garonne spent a few hours aground near the entrance to Fremantle Harbour in Western Australia. The vessel became stuck in soft sand about 500m off South Mole as she was entering Fremantle Inner Harbour at around 0500. Tugs pulled her free by 0830.

Texas: The 29,289gt/1999 built chemical tanker Carla Maersk and the 33,036gt/2011 built bulk carrier Conti Peridot collided off Morgan’s Point, Texas in the Houston Ship Channel during a blanket of fog. The bulk carrier’s bow struck the Carla Maersk on the port side causing some of her cargo of MTBE, a hazardous and extremely flammable fuel additive, to leak into the water. An anchor from the Conti Peridot was lost and later salvaged before the channel reopened.