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The Mersey Ferry 'Royal Iris of the Mersey'
had to be rescued by dredger
ON Sunday, 10 July 2016, 69 passengers
and 5 crew members were on the Mersey Ferry, Royal Iris, which ran aground off
Eastham Locks, on the Wirral side of the River Mersey. The incident happened at
around 1.20pm as the passenger ferry was setting off on a Manchester Ship Canal
cruise. All the passengers were taken to safety and we are also told that there
were no reported injuries. It's thought that the ferry had hit an underwater
object as the vessel started to run aground. This object bored a hole in the
hull which caused the ship to take on water. The RNLI's Hoylake lifeboat was
tasked to assist a passenger ferry and was launched and proceeded to the
stricken ferry. A short time later, HM Coastguard stood the local lifeboat down,
as other vessels in the area were assisting. Hoylake Lifeboat returned to
station. We are told that the Netherlands registered, Dredger, Deo Gloria,
assisted in rescue, by pumping out the ferry and taking the passengers onboard.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service then helped both vessels to move into the
Queen Elizabeth Dock, which is located at the side of the Manchester Ship Canal,
at Eastham. After the dock's gates had been closed, they then assisted the
passengers to disembark from Deo Gloria. The Firefighters then, we are told,
assisted in pumping out the sea water from the ferry, as they awaited the
arrival of a further 2 tug boats. We are told that The Port of Liverpool Police,
HM Coastguard and North West Ambulance Service also attended this incident. A
Merseytravel spokesperson said:- "We can confirm that the Royal Iris ferry
Manchester Ship Canal cruise was abandoned following reports of the ferry taking
on water. The relevant emergency services were called immediately. At no time
were passengers in danger and they were safely transferred to a dredger, the Deo
Gloria. The Royal Iris was escorted into the Eastham lock system and we will
investigate the cause of this incident. We apologise to our passengers and would
like to thank them for their cooperation."
Fact File:- Did you
know that Deo Gloria is working in the river Mersey. She was built in 1978 and
is:- 70.36m long and 14.33m wide. She has a gross tonnage of: - 1512 tons and a
deadweight of: - 2100 tons.
The Mersey Ferry Royal
Iris was
originally named:- 'Mountwood' and was built in Dartmouth,
by Philip and Sons Ltd. The Ferry was then launched on 6 July 1959, and
travelled up to the Mersey from Dartmouth in 1960. She was renamed in 2001 as
the Royal Iris of the Mersey. The craft is 46.32m long, by 12.2m wide and is
owned by Merseytravel. |
