Vessel with body of seaman on board towed back to harbour

A North Sea emergency response vessel, carrying the body of a crewman killed in stormy seas at the weekend, has been towed to the safety of a harbour on the North east coast.

The Vos Sailor has been helplessly drifting without power in raging seas 120 miles North east of Aberdeen, since the early hours of Saturday morning and was taken under tow yesterday by a salvage tug.

The badly damaged vessel, owned by Aberdeen-based Vroon Offshore Services, arrived in Fraserburgh harbour last night after being taken under tow for more than 20 hours by the Invergordon-based tug Kestrel.

A spokeswoman for Vroon said: “The vessel arrived at Fraserburgh last night and the body of the crewman was on board.”

Eleven members of the vessel’s 12 man crew were evacuated by helicopter on Saturday after the vessel was badly damaged and took on water when it was battered by 70 knot winds and waves more than 20ft high in the Balmoral oil field 120 miles from Aberdeen.

The spokeswoman for the shipping company said: “This morning authorities have recovered the body of the crew member who suffered fatal injuries onboard the emergency rescue and response vessel VOS Sailor. The body of the crew member will be returned to his family by the authorities in due course.”

She added: “Vroon Offshore Services will offer its full cooperation to authorities conducting an investigation into the exact circumstances of the fatal incident. Management and staff at Vroon Offshore Services wish to offer their deepest condolences their colleague’s family. The company’s thoughts are with his relatives, friends and fellow crew members. Vroon Offshore Services is offering its support to the family in these extremely difficult times.”