Skog

The "Skog" has left Orkney again in the early hours of Dec 3 following repairs at the Hatston Pier. The ship, carrying a cargo of paper, sailed just after midnight, bound for Clydeport. Report with photo: http://www.orcadian.co.uk/2015/12/rescued-ship-leaves-orkney/

Two lifeboats, the "Herakles" and helicopter have been involved in an operation to help the "Skog" off Orkney after it began to take on water while drifting about four miles north of Papa Westray at a rate of about 500 liters per hour to the engine room. The Stromness lifeboat crew were paged at 3:30 a.m. to go to the assistance of the ship, the Skog, about 10 miles north west of Westray. After a rough trip out through Hoy Sound, the lifeboat turned north and proceeded at 14 knots to the "Skog". There was a 5 m swell from the west with a force five, gusting six wind. The lifeboat arrived at 6 a.m. to find the Skog lying broadside on to the wind and waves and rolling heavily. She was drifting at 3 knots to the northeast. The shiphad suffered engine failure due to a cooling water problem. She was taking on water in the engine room at a rate of 500 litres per hour and had only emergency power but no propulsion. The "Heracles" was en route to the scene from Kirkwall at 5:30 a.m. At 7:16 a.m. the "Skog" requested a helicopter to deliver an emergency pump. The status of the incident was upgraded to Mayday by the Coastguard. At 7:45 a.m. a Coastguard helicopter was on the way from Sumburgh with its own salvage pump to be delivered to the Skog. At 8:30 a.m. the helicopter arrived and transferred a salvage pump to the "Skog". At 8:45 a.m. the oil rig support vessel "Vos Hera" arrived on the scene and stood by to help if required. Another general cargo ship arrived and also stood by. At 9:20 a.m. the "Heracles" arrived on scene. At 10:00 a.m. the helicopter was asked to take a 150kg salvage pump from the "Heracles" to the "Skog". At 10:15 a.m. the Coastguard asked the Kirkwall lifeboat to join the rescue operation and to take over from the Stromness lifeboat. At 10:30 a.m. a pump was transferred from the Stromness lifeboat via helicopter to the "Skog". At 10:45 a.m. the helicopter returned to Kirkwall to collect two more salvage pumps and refuel. At 10:50 a.m. a rope was attached from the "Heracles" to the "Skog", and the tow began. At 11:10 a.m. the Kirkwall lifeboat arrived with two salvage pumps on board to be transferred to the Skog by helicopter. At 11:45 a.m. the Coastguard gave the "Heracles" instructions to proceed east-about Orkney to the port of Kirkwall. At 11:50 a.m. the Coastguard stood the Stromness lifeboat down and the crew headed home whicgwas a bumpy ride home with winds gusting over 30 knots from the west, with a west-going tide. The lifeboat arrived back in Stromness just after 2:30 a.m. The "Skog" was safely moored at the jetty of the Hatston Industrial Estate in Kirkwall in the morning of Nov 25 at 3 a.m., assisted alongside by two Orkney Towage tugs and the pilot boat Kirkwall Bay. Reports with photos and videos: http://www.orcadian.co.uk/2015/11/stricken-cargo-ship-alongside-hatston-pier/ http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-34910679 http://www.orcadian.co.uk/2015/11/footage-of-ship-rescue-released-by-coastguard/ http://rnli.org/NewsCentre/Pages/Stromness-lifeboat-crew-assist-disabled-100m-cargo-ship.aspx http://www.orcadian.co.uk/2015/11/rnli-ship-rescue-video/

A palletised cargo ship that lost power while underway off the Orkney Islands is under tow to port, where it will undergo repair work. The Barbados-flagged Skog, which is owned and operated by Norway’s Lorentzens Skibs, made a call to the Shetland Coastguard at 03:10hrs today, reporting it had lost engine power and was taking on water. Shetland Coastguard sent its rescue helicopter, which transferred pumps to the Skog. The Stromness and Kirkwall RNLI all-weather lifeboats also attended the scene. The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s emergency towing vessel ETV Herakles (pictured) is now towing the vessel to port, shadowed by the stand-by vessel Vos Hera. The port has yet to be announced. The ten crew members are reportedly unharmed and remain onboard the 99-metre-long vessel, which is carrying a cargo of paper. AIS data shows the vessel called at Clydeport in Scotland on Monday, and is currently 6.5 nautical miles east-north-east from the island of Papa Westray, Orkney. Sea conditions on scene are reportedly moderate to rough. http://splash247.com/cargo-ship-rescued-after-losing-power-off-orkney-islands/