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DATE |
NEWS |
| 09/05/08 |
SHETLAND ISLANDS COUNCIL:
From Shetland Marine News:
AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a Shetland inter island ferry
ran aground on a beach yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) after her steering
control mechanism failed.
The Geira, with four crew on board, was leaving the Gutcher
terminal, on Yell, at 1.40pm when the skipper was unable to shift the
vessel out of reverse as he usually does to cross the Bluemull Sound to
head for Unst.
To avoid damaging the propellers, he engaged the clutch and the 20 year
old ferry simply drifted onto Gutcher’s pebble beach. No one was injured
in the incident. |
'GEIRA' TOWED BY 'THORA'
PHOTO: William Davis |
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Last night, Shetland Islands Council’s assistant marine superintendent
David Polson said the Geira had been towed to nearby Cullivoe
pier by her sister ferry Thora where divers were inspecting her
hull for damage.
Captain Polson said there appeared to be no water getting into the
ferry, but the rudders were damaged and “stuck hard to port” by about 20
degrees.
Describing the incident, he said: “She couldn’t stop. She didn’t want to
go into the ahead position and the skipper could see she was going
ashore, so rather than have the propellers damaged he took the clutches
out to stop them.”
The Geira has been serving as the main Bluemull Sound ferry
alongside the Thora while the Bigga was having technical
problems repaired.
Yesterday’s incident happened as the Bigga came back into service
and the Thora was being chartered to deliver smolts to the
Mainstream salmon farm in the area. The Thora was brought back
into service so the sailing schedule was unaffected.
Captain Polson said the council had informed the Maritime & Coastguard
Agency and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch and would run its
own internal investigation it what happened.
Last month the Geira was put out of action by a faulty turbo on
its starboard engine.
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