A Clyde Marine Services tug named Biter capsized off the coast at Greenock today.
Emergency response teams were urgently deployed to the vessel around 4pm today.
https://twitter.com/geoallison/status/1629158052770242561
Preliminary reports indicated the possibility of individuals being trapped within the capsized ship, while witnesses reported observing Coastguard units knocking on the hull and shouting.
https://twitter.com/DannyMcBride/status/1629146823372816384
A Coastguard helicopter was observed hovering above the area, while additional vessels were strategically positioned in the vicinity of the incident location.
Tragic incident ongoing off East India Harbour Greenock. Tug Biter has capsized and sunk while working with Hebridean Princess. Search on going for the crew #Biter pic.twitter.com/RBp8O8Jvnn
— Iain Cameron (@ScotlandDX) February 24, 2023
Oh, lord, hope the crews all safe, surviving the water temperature at this time of year would be measured in minutes…..
Hope all ok
Sounds very unpleasant.
Hope all are safe and accounted for.
Hope the lads on the tugboat managed to make it into an air pocket or watertight compartment. I wonder how a vessel of this size would be recovered, would they be able to make it upright again after making sure no breaches on the outer hull, or would they send divers to rescue trapped crew through water?
It looks like the boat sank with two crew onboard. No reports of rescue. Thoughts to those families.
Very sad news, hopefully, they will be rescued.
Could they not use the minesweeper that’s tied up nearby? And are there no Merlins in the Faslane, anyone or T23 that’s off the coast at the moment?
Coastguard SAR flies two AW139s out of Prestwick. I think they responded.
It was more about the Merlin’s having sonar.
Sonar isn’t going to be on any use at this depth and a merlin is an incredibly powerful machine so it presence in the area may cause additional problems. No need to involve the military for the sake of it.
Sonar wont find a Human, they know where it Sunk
Any news on the crew yet? Hope they can get rescued if trapped.
The surface search was called off at 20.00 last night by the coast guard and handed over to the police. The police have resumed today with divers, no survivors have been reported rescued.
That’s very sad. Condolences to the family. You’d think a tugboat would be pretty safe wouldn’t you. Pretty shocking that’s it’s flipped. I’m working in Swire Shipping at the moment and I know that the company is very safety conscious about all our staff, crew and people onboard our ships and all the other ships and people that interact with ours on a daily basis. Pilots, tugs, lines launchers, stevedores, terminals, fuel barges, transport, cranes, there’s a lot going on in ports just to get your vessel in offloaded, loaded and out as you all well know here. We don’t take anybody for granted but accidents can still happen anywhere. Hope they can find their bodies for their families.
Whilst echoing everyones concerns I’m a bit puzzled as to what would cause a tug to capsize for no apparent reason.
Could be an incident known as ‘Girding’ which unfortunately can cause a very quick loss of stability for vessels like tug boats.
Multitude of reasons. Could be as simple as a loss of power on the tug or an error in positioning leading to the mass of the towed vessel pulling the tug broadsides to the direction of tow, capsizing it and known in the trade as girting.
Tuggies are another seafaring group who are hugely professional, doing a tough job at the edge of danger.
Worth keeping abreast of the MAIB investigations bulletins that show these sort of things happen around the world with frequency.
My heart goes out to the families of the lost crewmen. Apparently tug Biter was “pulled over” by cables attached to the vessel it was escorting.