Severe Weather Kills Two Seamen, Seriously Injures Another

A massive wave which hit the VLCC “FR8 Venture” last Saturday has resulted in two deaths and the serious injury of another seaman. A Shetland Coastguard rescue helicopter was scrambled to assist and a doctor was dispatched to the vessel following the incident. According to a Coastguard press release, the Singapore registered tanker had lifted a cargo of crude oil at Scapa Flow terminal in Orkney and was bound for Houston, TX. As it entered the Pentland Firth, where it encountered severe weather, the ship eventually took a large wave over the bow where the three crew members were working. Shetland Coastguard spokespersons said that the doctor, who was winched onto the vessel from the helicopter, confirmed the deaths of two of the crewmen. The fate of the third crew member was not known as MarEx went on-line with this edition, but the injured seaman was to be taken to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in the Coastguard helicopter. The vessel was reportedly taken, under guidance of marine pilot, back into port at Scapa Flow where it anchored on Saturday evening. A Coastguard inquiry is now underway in an effort to determine how the two seaman were killed and the third injured. At the time of the incident, the vessel was said to be rolling heavily and taking waves of up to 60 feet in height and wind gusts of 80 miles per hour. The vessel is about a year old and carries a crew of 20. Elsewhere, a 440-foot container ship arrived at Coos Bay, OR after a 70 foot high rogue wave struck it and knocked out several windows and electronics. The US Coast Guard dispatched an aircraft after receiving a distress call on Sunday night. The vessel is owned by Westwood Shipping Lines, a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser Company. A company spokesman told MarEx on Thursday afternoon that the “WESTWOOD POMONA” was undergoing replacement of windows and some electronics at Coos Bay, where it arrived on Monday afternoon. The vessel was expected to depart in the next couple of days. Only one of the 22 crewmembers was slightly injured in the incident.