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An MCA press release on the vessel "Sesam" broken down in the Irish Sea:-
Liverpool and Belfast Coastguard have today been co-ordinating efforts to assist a Russian vessel, which has broken down and is drifting in the Irish Sea.
Initially, a call was received just after 1.00 p.m. this afternoon from the Belgian flagged 974 metric ton, 82 metre general cargo vessel `Sesam' when she was west of the Isle of Man and was unable to restart her engines.
She currently has six people on board and was travelling from Bromborough near Liverpool to Coleraine in Northern Ireland with a cargo of steel coils in the hold with the deck remaining clear.
Throughout the afternoon and early evening her progress has been monitored by both Liverpool Coastguard and Belfast Coastguard whilst her owners and agents have sought suitable tugs locally. Various tug brokers were also advised given the deterioration in the weather overnight. The winds are currently south easterly, force 7 and due to
strengthen to a severe gale 9 overnight.
Her rate of drift has been closely monitored and is now estimated to be about 3 knots in a north westerly direction. She is currently about 14 miles due west of Peel on the Isle of Man.
During the evening, after some language difficulties were
encountered, Belfast Coastguard began to use an interpreting service, and identified with the crew that there were 30 tonnes of bunker fuel on board.
Late tonight, the Irish Lights Vessel (ILV) 'Granuaile' set sail from the Irish Republic and is due to arrive on scene during the early hours of the morning, and will be able to take the disabled cargo vessel under tow to a suitable port.
Brett Cunningham, Area Operations Manager for the West of Scotland and Northern Ireland said:
"We are very grateful to the Commissioners of the Irish Lights in releasing this very capable vessel to assist us in this incident.
"We are concerned about the worsening weather situation, and it is clear in our contacts with the crew through the interpreting service that although they have an on board generator, their main engine cannot be fixed on board and they urgently require a tow. The difficulties earlier seem to be that there was not one locally with enough capability to handle a ship of this size on those conditions -
hence our gratitude to the Commissioners."
Liverpool and Belfast Coastguard have today been co-ordinating efforts to assist a Russian vessel, which has broken down and is drifting in the Irish Sea.
Initially, a call was received just after 1.00 p.m. this afternoon from the Belgian flagged 974 metric ton, 82 metre general cargo vessel `Sesam' when she was west of the Isle of Man and was unable to restart her engines.
She currently has six people on board and was travelling from Bromborough near Liverpool to Coleraine in Northern Ireland with a cargo of steel coils in the hold with the deck remaining clear.
Throughout the afternoon and early evening her progress has been monitored by both Liverpool Coastguard and Belfast Coastguard whilst her owners and agents have sought suitable tugs locally. Various tug brokers were also advised given the deterioration in the weather overnight. The winds are currently south easterly, force 7 and due to
strengthen to a severe gale 9 overnight.
Her rate of drift has been closely monitored and is now estimated to be about 3 knots in a north westerly direction. She is currently about 14 miles due west of Peel on the Isle of Man.
During the evening, after some language difficulties were
encountered, Belfast Coastguard began to use an interpreting service, and identified with the crew that there were 30 tonnes of bunker fuel on board.
Late tonight, the Irish Lights Vessel (ILV) 'Granuaile' set sail from the Irish Republic and is due to arrive on scene during the early hours of the morning, and will be able to take the disabled cargo vessel under tow to a suitable port.
Brett Cunningham, Area Operations Manager for the West of Scotland and Northern Ireland said:
"We are very grateful to the Commissioners of the Irish Lights in releasing this very capable vessel to assist us in this incident.
"We are concerned about the worsening weather situation, and it is clear in our contacts with the crew through the interpreting service that although they have an on board generator, their main engine cannot be fixed on board and they urgently require a tow. The difficulties earlier seem to be that there was not one locally with enough capability to handle a ship of this size on those conditions -
hence our gratitude to the Commissioners."
