Fri-Sea

The "Fri Sea" suffered some damage at the stern and some small indents when it touched the bottom. It has been inspected. Repairs were carried out on Mar 10. The grounding incident was not reported to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) until four hours after the ship went aground just after 07.30. A member of the public called the police at 09.00, but the MCA confirmed that it was only at 11.44 that the police alerted the local coastguard at Fort William. The Coastguard then instructed "Fri Sea"’s master to contact the Stornoway Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) on Channel 16, local sources stated. The delay was reminiscent of a previous incident involving the "Fri Ocean", which grounded in the Sound of Mull on June 14, 2014, at 03.22 a.m. en route from Corpach to Varberg. The master made no attempt to contact the MCA, and Stornoway MRCC only learned of the incident at 07.10 a.m. after being contacted by a member of the public. MCA told that the first duty of the vessel is to inform the Coastguard which will inform the duty counter-pollution and salvage officer. They will then carry out an assessment of the situation and inform the Secretary of State for Maritime Intervention and Salvage [SOSREP]. The counter-pollution officer will contact the vessel and the owners so see what they are doing about what has happened. The Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012 state that in the case of a maritime incident, the master and/or the ship’s owner shall notify the Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents as soon as practicable following the accident and by the quickest means available.

The "Burhoui" made an attempt to pull the "Fri Sea" clear on Mar 8 morning but was unable to move the ship. There were no reports of injuries or signs of pollution and the crew remained on board the vessel. The "Fri Sea" was due to collect a load of timber. The owners of the cargo vessel have contracted a tug which, will was expected on scene this evening. An attempt to refloat the vessel was undertaken with the high tide. At 7.52 p.m. the vessel had been refloated with the aid of a tug "Kye of Lochalsh" and was safely taken to her intended berth at Clyde Boyd Corpach. Another Kopervik cargo ship, the "Fri Ocean", ran aground in the Sound of Mull on June 14, 2013, while transporting timber from Corpach to Varberg in Sweden. Reports with photos: http://forargyll.com/2015/03/martin-briscoe-mv-fri-sea-refloated-at-corpach/ http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-31787539

http://news.stv.tv/highlands-islands/312966-cargo-ship-fri-sea-runs-aground-while-docking-at-port-near-fort-william/