ipadio: Ben My Chree sinks - First hand report from St Piran skipper, Shane Liddicoat aboard the St Piran.

Shane Liddicoat, skipper of the St Piran gives an interview via phone from the wheelhouse a short time after the Ben My Chree sank off Carn Base between Land's End and Gwennap Head.

Shane Liddicoat heads the CSF's St Piran towards the gaps.

In better days - Ben My Chree steaming in to pick up the lazy deckie when pair trawling with the Keriolet in the 1980s.

The gill netter Ben My Chree was brought to Newlyn in 1978 from St Guenole in Brittany and fished by the Hicks family under skipper Steven and his brother Jonathon. She trawled for many years, including a short, but eventful, period when she went pair trawling with the Keriolet, another ex-French trawler.

Latest position of the Ben My Chree under tow.

The St Piran with the Ben My Chree under tow is about to round the Runnelstone Buoy.  

Ben My Chree update.

VesselTracker AIS shows the St Piran towing the Ben My Chree approx 12 miles off Land's End at 1900 hrs.

The Ben My Chree has stayed afloat in the traffic seperation zone off Land's End and deemed a hazard to shipping. The Cornwall Sea Fisheries vessel, St Piran now has a line aboard the stricken fishing boat and is attempting to tow her back to Newlyn.


After being rescued for the second time in his career, skipper Steve Hicks says,"I'm 56, that's it, I've had enough" and does not intend returning to sea.
Full story and video on the BBC website.

Trawlers on canvas - David Langsworthy's exhibition at the Mission.

Pollack wait to be picked up for filleting.......

its not just a rumour then Mario........

after coming astern on a spring as she pushes inside the big crabber.......

the Sea Lady uses her bow thruster to move to the quay.......

another Brixham beamer, Sasha Emeil, waits for sailing orders.......

these dredges won't be shiny for long on the giant scalloper Jacoba......

annual paint up time for KY1001...........

another set of new warps ready to go aboard.......

tomorrow the Ripple will be joined by the luggers Barnabus and Happy Return inside the Old Quay to celebrate Painting on the Pier day.......

next week the Mission will hold a fund raising painting exhibition of work by marine artist David Langsworthy.......

you have been warned!

Crew airlifted from fishing boat Ben My Chree off Land's End.

Gill-netter Ben My Chree leaving Newlyn.

The last recorded AIS position of the Ben My Chree off Land's End before power was lost.

At 00.27 am Falmouth Coastguard received a Mayday distress call from the fishing vessel Ben My Chree with five crew onboard. Their distress call reported that they were taking water and sinking 17 nautical miles East North East of the Isles of Scilly. Falmouth Coastguard immediately broadcast a Mayday relay, and requested the scramble of Rescue Helicopter R193 and St Marys All Weather Lifeboat. Another Newlyn registered fishing vessel CKS responded to the broadcast and proceeded from 7nm away at best speed. The wind was a force 5 from the west south west with a moderate to rough sea.

Once on scene R193 attempted to lower the Coastguard pump down onto the vessel but this proved impossible due to the weather conditions. The water level in the vessel was still rising and the crew were getting very concerned, so R193 winched four, including skipper Steve Hicks off the vessel. Crewman Jamie Vickar was the last to leave and even though he had knocked the engine out of gear when he left the wheel house the vessel continued to proceed in a very erratic manner due to the mizzen sail being set. This meant that R193 could not winch him off so he was taken off onto the St Marys Lifeboat and from there winched to R193. All five crew were then transferred to Culdrose where they were met by a few members of the Penzance Coastguard Rescue Team who transported them back to their homes in Newlyn.

The CKS was released to continue and the St Marys lifeboat stood alongside the Ben My Chree until first light. As the night progressed the Ben My Chree sank lower in the water, the engine stopped, its AIS ceased to transmit and its navigation lights went out. As the vessel was drifting across the Lands End Traffic Separation scheme Falmouth Coastguard made a Security Broadcast to all vessels in the area to be aware and to keep a sharp lookout and a wide berth.

The area between Land's End and the Scillys has a very busy traffic separation scheme in place, at the moment there is a concentration of French trawlers working just to the south of the incident.

Marc Thomas, Watch Manager, Falmouth Coastguard said:

"The crew of the Ben My Chree were calm and professional in a very uncertain situation and the skipper passed all the necessary information to ensure a swift rescue. The crew of R193 tried repeatedly to lower the Coastguard pump onboard but were unable to do so, but they managed to recover four of the crew off the fishing vessel in challenging conditions."

Courtesy of Fred Caygill at the MCA.

'Cormorant' salvages Dutch fishing boat off Dunkirk.

Dutch towage and salvage specialist Multraship has salvaged the fishing trawler Nieuwpoort 28 (N28) which capsized off Dunkirk on 1 March. The trawler capsized twenty miles off the French/Belgian coast. It was upside-down in the water and the French and Belgian Coastguards mobilised a Search & Rescue operation during which Navy divers searched the vessel but were unable to find any of the trawler’s three crew members. Two brothers and their brother-in-law were all from the close-knit Zeeland fishing community.

Newlyn Archive - call to action.

This Saturday will see fishing luggers return in numbers not seen for nearly a century to the Old Quay in Newlyn. Painting at Party on the Pier is one of many events celebrating the start of British Tourism week when an open invitation to come and paint such an historic scene. Newlyn Archive members will be on the quay with photgraphs, drawings and other materials to help add to the authenticity of the occasion.