(Updated below) In the early hours of this morning, Yeoman Bontrup, damaged at Glensanda Quarry in a serious onboard fire, was towed to a safe anchorage out of the shipping lanes and is lying in the mid channel, south of the entrance to the Lynn of Lorn, between the south end of the Isle of Lismore and Dunbeg on the mainland, where it turns sharp east in the outer entrance to Loch Etive.
- Anglian Sovereign, the Coastguard’s offshore tug, is stopped dead at that point.
- A new tug, Keverne is with her, at the same point and making no headway.
We’re working remotely from AIS and of course Yeoman Bontrup’s transponder has long been switched off in this incident, so it is not visible.
It looks, though, as if she has been taken to this safe anchorage, while work continues to prepare her for towing to a yard for repairs – and that these tugs have just anchored her there.
The two Svitzer tugs are surplus to current requirements and are heading home.
- Musselwick is now (07.25 10th July) south of the South Rock Light and coming up to the entrance to Strangford Lough, off to starboard.She’s heading home to Milford Haven.
- Anglegarth is east of the north end of the Isle of Arran, making her way towards the narrows between the south end of Bute and Little Cumbrae on her way back to her berth at Greenock.
The tug Keverne is in the JP Knight fleet, the oldest tug and barge company in the UK and the first in the world to be fully certified to the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention. This last point will have been important in Keverne’s selection as part of the operation to move Yeoman Bontrup.
Keverne came through the Pentland Firth to join the SMIT Salvaage led operation. She will have come either form Ivergordon in the Firth of Cromarty or from Lowestoft.
Update 13.00 10th July: The photograph at the top shows Yeoman Bontrup at anchor at the time of this update, south of the entrance to the Lynn of Lorn, taken from Dunstaffnage, north of Oban, with the hills of Mull in the background.
The second shot – immediately above – shows her burned out accommodation block – which seems to have burned from the outside in rather than form the inside out. This supports speculation that the unusually close proximity of the conveyor which went on fire – and its A-frame assembly – to the accommodation block may have carried the fire to this block. It is certainly devastated.
We drove a round trip of 100 miles and walked three miles to check that she was definitely here and to get the shot to prove it. Working only from AIS and with no signal from Yeoman Bontrup herself had been a nervewracking business. All you see are tugs.
As luck would have it, all the fairly straightforward vantage points we’d expected to see her from showed us empty water. Trudging on and on we became more and more sure wed have to go back and correct this story – but logic kept insisting that she had to be here, that the evidence we’d put together could mean nothing else.
Finally, and, without knowing it, having gone the long way around to a point where she could be seen, we had a Gotcha moment.
Full details of the story, through its various stages to date- including information on the probable cause which has not been published anywhere else – is on our running story: Serious fire on Yeoman Bontrup at Glensanda
Your timing is a bit out. The Bontrop was moved on Friday afternoon by the Svitzer tugs and the Coastguard vessel. The Musselwick left first about 5 pm and the Anglegarth followed an hour later. The Coastguard vessel stayed with the Bontrop overnight.
The Kaverne was standing cover for the Coastguard vessel for the last few days at Loch Ewe and she came down overnight and an hour after she arrived the Coasguard vessel returned to the Minch.
Use the history tab in AIS and you can get all these details.
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For Murdoch MacKenzie: Very many thanks for these details, which also explain why Musselwick was a bit further on with her journey home.
We’d been keeping watch on AIS – a fantastic resource – and inevitably had some gaps when we were out covering live events. We obviously picked up the tail end of the move just after 7.00am Saturday, not long before Anglian Sovereign left for Lerwick.
What time on Friday was the move?
And now we know what the ‘History’ button on AIS is for – thank you. We’ve never had time to explore it and while accurate, the name ‘history’ didn’t suggest what it appears to be. Now we suspect it will add to the addiction.
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You’re right, it is an addiction
) Anyway, if you use the ShipsAIS site and enter the vessels name you will get it’s last position. Press the History button and you can see the vessels recorded movements for that day. A calendar is presented with all the dates containing History highlighted.
If you want to see the Bontrup move, search each one of the tugs and hit the calendar button for July 9th. It is interesting that the Svitzer tugs travelled in a zig-zag path but the Anglian Soveriegn ran a fairly even route. This suggests to me that the Coastguard vesel was not attached during the tow, maybe she could not get tied up in a commercial tow as her purpose is to be available for emergencies.
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For Murdock MacKenzie: Thank you for the advice on the ‘history’ tab and for the clarification in your most recent post. This ia already proving a seductive addition so the need for self-discipline just got ratcheted up.
The difference in tug movements is very interesting. your analysis sounds highly plausible. As a public sector boat, Anglian Sovereign probably couldn’t be seen to take work from the privateers – and would have a responsibility to see that all went well and to stand by.
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When I say “Press the History button”, I mean the one in the window that opens for the vessel that also has one for choosing the Map. The AIS History is a more general searching tool.
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Here are some interesting developments on the AIS today. On ShipAIS click on AIS History, set the date to today, 11th July, and the time to 14.40. Set the map to the Minch and you will see three ships travelling South. The two marked green are bulkers coming to Glensanda tonight and the black one is a Dutch tug heading for Oban. Also on this map the Anglian Sovereign is at anchor outside Stornoway harbour.
Regarding the zig-zagging tugs, it may be that the Coastguard vessel was towing the Bontrup by her anchor and payed-out chain and the other two were steering. This could account for the quick setting of the anchor(s) once they got to the station.
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Right. Got them (and a tutorial on yet more to mine fom Ship AIS – thank you). Both due at Glendanda tomorrow (12th July: Yeoman Bank ETA 02.00 and Vestnes, ETA 05.00. Hasn’t taken long for Glensanda to get back into business.
Tug is Boulder due into Oban anchorage at 06.00 tomorrow. SMIT Salvage is a Dutch HQ firm, Boulder is a Dutch tug so odds are she’s going to Yeoman Bontrup. Does this mean that she may be towed to a non-UK yard for repair?
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I wonder where the cargo is for? The Yeoman Bridge is in Amsterdam discharging, she was meant to come to Glensanda last week but got sent to Bramanger in Norway instead. If the cargo is for the same client I would imagine she would go there and get rid of the weight if there is a lot of repair work needing done. I’m sure they will have equipment at Amsterdam that will unload her if her cargo elevators are out of action , as I’m pretty sure they are.
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I see that Kerven has now been joined by offshore tug Boulder. Does this presage a move for Yeoman Bontrup?
Incidentally I dont know enough about the self-discharging equipment and wonder how feasible grab-discharge is. If not someone has a problem.. I a;so note that a queue is now forming at Glensanda. AIS is useful.
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the dutch tug boulder is towing the bulk carier to IJmuiden port were the bulk carier wil be unloaded
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For lol2b: Thank you. This is very useful information – and since she is carrying 17,000 tonnes loaded before the fire started, she’d have to get rid of that before repairs.
We’re assuming that, after unloading at IJmuiden, the ship will be towed to Rotterdam. Do you have any information on this?
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no sorry , i had this information from ITC towage ,
http://www.itctowage.com/frposition.html
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oeps it did not give a direct link,
you need to klik on the boulder.
if i have more information for you i wil give an update.
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For lol2be: Many thanks.
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The cargo is being unloaded at IJmuiden by means of a floating grab crane into barges moored alongside. Yeomna Bontrup’s own discharging conveyer is simply swung out of the way. There is an excellent picture (which must be dated Sunday morning, 1 Aug) at http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo-1156154-Yeoman+Bontrup. (By “moored alongside” I mean: Yeoman Bontrup is moored __outside__ the dolphins (facing west, if it matters), a floating crane is moored __inside__ Yeoman, and the barges come, one by one, to the other side of the floating crane. I’ve been on the receiving end of that operation in the Mercuriushaven at Amsterdam.) Four barges have been used (at least): Cathalijn, Ursa Montana, Addio, Vagebond. AIS shows them taking the stone to the Amerikahaven in Amsterdam and coming back, perhaps to refill. Judging by their sizes (LxB) it won’t take long. PS Keverne left the job once they had arrived safely at anchorage off IJmuiden, and was later noted at Invergordon.
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For Hugh MacFarlane: Great information Hugh – many thanks. and the photolink you’ve given confirms, from the stern, just how devastating is the fire damage to the accommodation block.
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The wharf in the Amerikahaven at Amsterdam, where the barges have been discharging the stone from Yeoman Bontrup, is occupied at the moment (3 Aug) by a bulker Yeoman Bridge (identical sister to Yeoman Bontrup), which arrived early this morning. I suspect that Yeoman Bridge was in Glensanda on 30 July (but invisible on AIS in that area); she was visible in Minch and Pentland Firth, coming and going, on days either side of 30/7. On that evidence, I might assume that that customer in Amsterdam takes stone from Glensanda routinely, but I don’t know that for certain!
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