LOCH RANNOCH

scrapped

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Beached

Beached at Aliaga 22.09.21

Power loss caused collision

The "Loch Rannoch" collided with the 184 dwt tug "Solan" in the Sullom Voe near the oil terminal, Shetland Islands on Dec 21, 2011. The £7 million council tug was leading the empty Schiehallion oilfield shuttle tanker out past Jetty 4 and was preparing to slip her rope when without warning she lost controls and propulsion. She was struck by the tanker doing about five knots and and bounced down the length of the tanker’s hull with the rope still attached. The tug was able to regain control again when the systems restarted. The "Loch Rannoch" was also able to slow down rapidly. The "Solan" had little damage as the rubber fenders of the vessel took much of the impact. The four crew on board the tug were unharmed. The cause of the power loss was being investigated. The "Solan" has been withdrawn from service at Sullom Voe as the cause of the failure remained a mystery. If the failure had happened a few minutes earlier when the "Solan" was a bit further ahead of the tanker the collision would have had much greater momentum Also the sister tug "Bonxie" was immediately suspended from service and remain tied up at the pier at Sella Ness. The council had already decided to have modifications carried out when they go into drydock due to a string of problems with reliability and lack of control since their arrival nearly a year ago.

LOCH RANNOCH 9160619

Sitting alongside in Sullom Voe.