Something things just don’t go as planned. The tug, Christos 22, was towing the decommissioned former German Naval training ship, MV Emsstrom, from Germany to Turkey. On Sunday night, the tug slowed to check a problem with the tow off Hope’s Nose near Torbay, Devon, when it was struck by the ship that it was towing. Both vessels began to take on water. Lifeboats and support vessels from Torbay and Exmouth responded to a distress call and rescued the eight crew from the tug, who were unhurt.
The region is a popular tourist destination and there were concerns that the 200 tonnes of fuel aboard the tug could create considerable pollution if it sank. Support tugs with engineers were dispatched to perform temporary repairs and to stabilize the Christos 22, which is now being towed to port. The pollution risk is now reported to be low. The MV Emsstrom, which was an empty hull and posed no risk of pollution, was reported to have subsequently sunk in deep water. Thanks to Alaric Bond, David Hayes and David Rye for contributing to the post.
I wouldn’t want to be the person telephoning the client “Erm… Hi Mr. Jones… The vessel that we were transporting for you…”
Though I do understand the risks involved I feel sorry for the poor skipper of the tug having to answer what went wrong.