Two tugs capsize and sink within days of each other

To the uninitiated, this phenomenon, known as ‘girting’, ‘girding’ or ‘tripping’, depending on where you live, can happen when unexpected movements are made by the ship or barge in tow, whilst the towline is over the tug’s side and unrestrained by a gog rope or bridle.

In the early hours of 6 June three men were rescued from the sinking tug Ijsselstroom after their vessel capsized while assisting in the tow of a stone barge near the entrance to Peterhead harbour. All three crew were retrieved from the water by the harbour pilot boat, cold, wet and shaken but apparently uninjured.

The 19.5m long Ijsselstroom, well known in marine civil engineering and dredging circles, is operated by Dutch owners Van Wijngaarden Marine Services. A twin screw vessel of 900 bhp powered by two Caterpillar main engines, the tug was built in 1992 and has a bollard pull of 15 tons. Ijsselstroom was one of two tugs assisting the barge Tak Boa 1, laden with 5,500 tons of stone from Scandinavia destined for the site of a £30million project to extend the harbour’s Smith Embankment. The incident occurred some 500m off the harbour entrance and at the time of writing the tug was lying in 25m of water.

An investigation has been started by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) in an attempt to determine the cause the capsizing. A spokesman for the MAIB said the inquiry could take several weeks to complete.

Just a few days later, on 11 June, it was reported that a small tug-workboat capsized and sank during an operation to refloat a stranded trawler off Sandgerdi. The un-named vessel was made fast to the trawler’s bow while the Iceland Coastguard attempted to haul the fishing vessel off stern first. When the trawler came free and gained speed the two man crew of the workboat was unable to react quickly enough to prevent their vessel being capsized. Fortunately both crew members were quickly picked up by a lifeboat attending the incident.