Grounded cargo ship refloats itself

A CONTAINER ship which ran aground on a Scottish shoreline is now afloat on the water.

The vessel, with nine people on board, got into difficulty off Kilchoan near Ardnamurchan Point in the Highlands. Picture: SWNS

The Lysblink Seaways refloated of its own accord last night from the foreshore where it became stuck, coastguard officials confirmed.

The vessel, with nine people on board, got into difficulty off Kilchoan near Ardnamurchan Point in the Highlands at about 2am on Wednesday.

No-one was injured in the incident but some diesel oil began leaking from the ship.

An absorbent boom was put in place in a bid to cope with the fuel escape and a temporary exclusion zone was also established around the ship.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the vessel is now anchored close to the location of the grounding after it “self-floated” from the foreshore at Kilchoan.

Further assessments of the vessel will be made today, officials said.

The 394ft vessel, which was carrying about 50 tonnes of paper products, was travelling from Belfast to Skogn in Norway when it ran aground.

The oil which had leaked was yesterday described as being a large mug-full in volume.

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