Ship to be scrapped following collision

A CARGO ship which ran aground in rough seas will be broken up and scrapped, the owners said yesterday.

Two lifeboats and Royal Navy and RAF helicopters were involved in the rescue of seven Polish crew after the MV Carrier struck rocks near Colwyn Bay, North Wales, on Tuesday in heavy seas.

Fuel is being removed from the ship by PGC Demolition of Heywood, Lancashire, over the bank holiday weekend.

Today, the German shipping firm Reederei Erwin Strahlmann, which owns and manages the vessel, confirmed the ship was to be scrapped.

The company said: “A structural assessment of MV Carrier has revealed severe damage and the vessel has been declared a constructive total loss.

“Accordingly, PGC Demolition has been awarded a second contract to demolish and remove the vessel. This task is already under way, the work running in parallel with the fuel removal operation.”

The ship, which is registered in Antigua and Barbuda and was carrying a cargo of stone, is now resting against concrete blocks on the beach at Llanddulas, which runs adjacent to the A55.

A “small quantity” of oil which was in use at the time seeped out of the 82-metre vessel, but the impact of the leak is expected to be “minimal”, Environment Agency Wales said.

The company added that the crew members, who were uninjured, are expected to be repatriated home “as soon as possible”.