Skipper full of praise for those involved in fishing boat rescue

THE CREW of a fishing vessel which started taking on water to the west of Shetland last week has thanked all those involved in the lengthy rescue.

The 26-metre Banff registered Enterprise II, which had six crew on board, suffered engine failure 60 miles west of Shetland in force eight winds on Thursday evening.

The coastguard helicopter provided a pump to the stricken vessel, while the Aith Lifeboat gave cover when it was taken under tow by another fishing boat the following morning.

The Enterprise II was safely towed into Scalloway – with the Aith crew then calling time on their 20-hour shift, arriving back at their base at 3am on Saturday.

Enterprise II skipper James Lovie said he wanted to thank the coastguard, lifeboat and fishing vessel Aalskere for their help.

He said it was the oil boat Grampian Dynamic which first took his call for help.

Lovie was then able to get in touch with his wife to try to contact fellow fishermen for a tow – before all power was lost.

He said it was too rough to establish a tow at the time, while later on water came into the fish room.

“We had to pump the boat out four times with the diesel pump lowered by the helicopter, before we reached Scalloway,” Lovie told Shetland News.

Thankfully the winds had died down and eased throughout Friday.

“HM Coastguard helicopter crew did an awesome job when they delivered a pump to Enterprise II (BF1), when the vessel lost power, and started taking water,” the skipper said.

“I take my hat off to you guys – thank you very, very much, also to the guys on the Aith lifeboat, thank you very, very much for your long stint, standing by, and suppling us with more torch power.

“Also not forgetting the skipper/owner and crew of the fishing boat Aalskere, who finally got us under tow and safely returning us to port, where they welcomed us to come aboard for a hot meal and charge our phones.

“We appreciate greatly all those who were involved, and helped get us back to shore.”