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Friday, 21 November, 2008, 22:00 GMT | more >>

Divers find no sign of missing crewmen



By Upstream staff 

Four men and a teenager are missing, presumed dead, after divers entered the upturned hull of the anchor handling tug supply vessel Bourbon Dolphin but found no signs of life.

However, the Royal Navy divers were forced to withdraw from the submerged vessel as seas roughened, the BBC reported.

The Bourbon Dolphin overturned on the North Sea's Rosebank field while handling an anchor for the semi-submersible rig Transocean Rather.

Seven of the vessel's 15 crew are in hospital following rescue efforts while three have been confirmed dead.

Among the missing is a 15-year-old boy who was on work experience with the crew. The boy's father, who was a crew member, is also missing.

The field lies in the UK sector of the North Sea about 120 kilometres west of the northern Shetland Island.

The search for the missing crew resumed at first light this morning following yesterday's accident.

Neville Davis, of Shetland Coastguard, told the BBC: "After an intensive search we must now accept that despite tremendous efforts from all rescue units involved it is extremely unlikely that the five missing crew will be found alive and our sympathies are with the families of the crew at this time."

He said operations at the site were not shifting to salvage of the Bourbon vessel, which remains afloat and is still attached to anchor lines of the Transocean Rather.

All non-essential staff have been evacuated from the rig amid fears it may be struck by the capsized vessel.

The crew were all Norwegian nationals.

Familes of the missing crew and of those killed have arrived in Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands from Norway.

Turge Drage, the mother of one of the survivors, Egil Hafsas, said he had described in a telephone call from Lerwick how he and two others had struggled into lifejackets and leapt overboard as the ship turned over.

They were picked up by another vessel and airlifted to Lerwick, she told the BBC.

Representatives of the vessel's owners Bourbon Norway also flew to the Hebrides today.

The company's managing director, Trond Myklebust, told the broadcaster he did not know what caused the accident, but said the Bourbon Dolphin was involved in anchor-handling operations with the rig and remained connected to it.

Scotland's Grampian Police have launched an investigation. A marine accident inquiry will also be carried out.

Friday, 13 April, 2007, 20:41 GMT  | last updated: Friday, 13 April, 2007, 23:52 GMT

'No sign': an unidentified vessel close to the upturned hull of the Bourbon Dolphin
 

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