Another Prospect refloating attempt fails

A THIRD attempt to refloat the Banff registered fishing boat Prospect was abandoned on Saturday morning.

Lerwick Port Authority, local marine engineering company Ocean Kinetics and the boat’s insurers will meet on Monday to discuss their next steps.

The 20 metre wooden vessel sank 12 days ago at the north end of Lerwick harbour after hitting a well-marked submerged rock.

No one was injured. The skipper was breathalysed by police after the accident but was found not to be over the limit.

The fishing boat with 22,000 litres of fuel in her tanks lies in 15 metres of water just outside the navigational channel.

Work to salvage the Prospect has been ongoing all week with two failed attempts to refloat her on Monday and Tuesday.

Since then divers have removed heavy gear from the superstructure in a bid to stabilise her during the refloating operation.

On Saturday morning camera teams and a few onlookers gathered near the port’s reclaimed land north of the Greenhead Base in the hope of witnessing the Prospect re-emerging from below the waves.

However, the operation was cancelled after two hours when air started escaping from the huge flotation bags attached to the vessel.