Grounded ship with 100 passengers on board drifts free

A ship with 100 people on board which ran aground on rocks near a busy harbour entrance has floated free of her own accord, coastguards said.

The diving support vessel Bibby Topaz got into difficulty while leaving Lerwick harbour in the Shetland Isles at 3.15am today.

No-one was injured and the ship, stuck around 200 metres from shore, was not taking on water.

Shetland Coastguard said it floated free with the rising tide at around 11.45am and tugs then took her back into the quayside. It had a pilot on board and the assistance of a manoeuvring tug at the time of the incident.

Aberdeen-based Bibby Offshore, operators of the ship, said no pollution was caused, although any damage has still to be established.

A spokesman said: "We will be fully assessing what happened."

The 106-metre long Bibby Topaz is described as a multi-role offshore diving support ship and was built in 2008.