Port St Mary Lifeboat Station - Callouts: 19th December 2001.
Weather: Wind NE force 5-6; swell moderate to rough;
22:35 UTC: The 100 foot long trawler,"Paramount", WD150, of Kilmore Quay, contacted Liverpool Coastguard reporting that it was rapidly taking water at the stern in a position 53 deg 52.95 min North , 004 deg 22.15 min West (approx. 16 miles SE of Port St Mary), with a crew of four on board and was requiring immediate assistance.
Within ten minutes PSM Lifeboat and RAF Rescue helicopter 122 from RAF Valley, Angelsey were dispatched with three salvage pumps between them. In addition , the 70 foot long scalloper trawler "Torbrach'n", TN2, some 5 miles away from the Paramount also immediately proceeded to assist.
Also three other vessels , the merchant vessels "Celtic Star" (some 18 miles to the south), "Irelands Pride" and the 115 foot long beam trawler "Albion" offered to assist but were too far away to be of effective help as the Lifeboat and helicopter were both due to get to the "Paramount" at 23:30 UTC.
PSM lifeboat encountered confused and heavy seas a mile to the south of Langness Point as it negotiated the Langness tide race however full speed was maintained.
The helicopter and the lifeboat arrived on scene within a few minutes of each other to find the Paramount drifting at over one knot, broadside to the near freezing nor-east wind. The Paramounts' steering was disabled and she was settling by the stern due to the water flooding in but not immediately at risk of sinking. Weather on scene was NE force 5 to 6 wind, with a 3 meter sea swell. The fishing boat, a steel hulled beam trawler of 137 gross tons, had been scallop fishing and had recovered its gear, which was secured to her bulwarks. All this prevented the helicopter from lowering their winchman to the deck of the trawler for fear of fouling its beam rigging.
After five minutes of studying the condition of the Paramount and some radio traffic between the pilot of Rescue 122, the lifeboat Cox'n and the Paramounts' skipper, it was agreed that the lifeboat would pass close under the bows of the Paramount in order to pass a 'short' tow ( a short tow is a shortened towing line, a 150 foot long or so, used to get control of, and manoeuver disabled vessels) . Once the lifeboat could tow the Paramount at slow speed into the wind i.e. to the NE, the helicopter would hover over the fishing vessel and lower their winchman.
At 23:45 UTC "Torbrach'n" arrived on scene and stood a short distance off, whilst PSM lifeboat passed a tow line to the Paramount on the first attempt. However, once the short tow was established and towing started it was realised that the Paramounts' rudder was set to starboard and that the trawler was difficult to control. Around midnight the helicopter winchman was lowered to the foredeck of the Paramount and after he checked of the level of flooding, a salvage pump was lowered to the stern of the trawler using a high line ( a light line attached to the helicopters winch wire). It was now established that the flooding was contained to the aft section of the trawler only.
For the next forty or so minutes a slow and difficult tow continued however the Paramount kept shearing away to starboard which often necessitated the lifeboat crew controlling the towing warp, to haul in slack rope and pay it back out as lifeboat Cox'n, Johnny Williams tried to maintain control on the trawler as it got caught broadside to the wind or over ran the lifeboat. The tow was generally in a nor westerly direction (the first intention was to tow towards Port St Mary so as to maximise the amount of shelter that could be obtained from the lee of the land. However the final decision as to whether to bring the trawler into Port St Mary or Douglas was being discussed between the Coastguard, IoM Harbour Authorities and the skipper of the Paramount).
The first salvage pump was holding the flooding of the stern compartment of the Paramount but not lowering it.
Between 00:30 and 00:40, (20th December), the skipper of the Tobrach-n and Cox'n Williams discussed transferring the tow over to the trawler.The scallop trawler "Torbrach'n" is 70 foot long, 7.5 foot draft, 150 gross tons. She was supposed to landing her catch at Kirkcudbright at 03:00 but had now missed her tide. She was offering to take the tow to Douglas. As the heaviest and deepest drafted vessel on scene she was best able to deal with the tow. Also this released the lifeboat to be able to quickly get alongside the Paramount and evacuate her crew should the use of two salvage pumps fail to stem the flooding of the trawlers stern compartment and / or some other unforeseen problem arose. The lifeboat would keep close escort. The skipper of the Paramount confirmed he still had engine power and could go astern if required (to act as a brake). The problem was that Tobrach-n only had quay side mooring lines and thus it was going to be necessary for the Paramount to drop the tow line, the lifeboat crew recover it and the pass to the Tobrach-n the whole of 220 meter long tow line and then the Tobrach-n to manoeuver close into the Paramount to pass the tow again.
At 00:43 UTC the lifeboat advised Liverpool Coastguard that towing was increasingly difficult and that Rescue 122 should transfer their second salvage pump to the Paramount and consider lifting the lifeboats' salvage pump to the trawler as well. Shortly after Rescue 122 winched down their second salvage pump to the deck of the beam-trawler. In addition, Rescue 122 inform the Coastguard that they could do with refuelling in the next 45 to 60 minutes. Liverpool Coastguard concurs with the plan for the Tobrach-N to take over the tow.
Around 01:00 UTC, PSM lifeboat closes the Paramount, the crew of the beam trawler drop the tow and the tow line is recovered. Whilst the Paramount drifted the RAF helicopter winchman aboard her reported that with two pumps working the water level in the flooded compartment is now going down slowly. Shortly afterwards he is winched back to Rescue 122 and it departs for Ronaldsway airport to refuel.
The weather had now moderated to a NNE force 4 with a 2 meter swell and under clear skies a near freezing night.
At 01:10 UTC the Tobrach-N hove to in the water and the lifeboat comes in close under her stern . Because both the lifeboats heaving lines are with the Paramount , the lifeboats stern is brought within one meter of the Tobrach-N stern so that one end of the towing rope can be passed over. Its done first time and then the whole 220 meters of rope is hauled over to the trawler by its crew. The trawlers' skipper then manoeuvered his boat astern towards the drifting Paramount and by 01:25 UTC a tow was re-established.
However, the problem with the Paramounts steering being stuck to starboard continued with the trawler continually shearing away and putting great strain on the towing line. Some light heartedness surfaced as the skipper of the Tobrach-N and the lifeboat agreed that at least all the boats would get to Douglas by Christmas Day !! Also the skipper of the Paramount reported that the water level was well down and that they had discovered the source of the leak - a cracked pipe in the aft storage space. The Paramount still had problems as the rudder indicator wasn't working and whilst the rudder could be moved it was very slow.
At 01:32 UTC Rescue 122 informed Liverpool Coastguard that they were refuelled and ready to proceed if required . The Cox'n of the lifeboat confirmed that there appeared to be no further useful action that the helicopter could perform so it was released to return to its base at RAF Valley.
Two minutes later the tow parted between the Tobrach-N and the Paramount. The position was 53 deg 53.27min North, 004deg 18.77 West, some 15 miles SSE of Douglas and 19 miles SE of Port St Mary. In the two hours since 23:35 UTC , the vessels had moved / drifted nearly two miles eastwards.
The Tobrach-N again manoeuvered in close to the bows of the Paramount but this time passed over a bight of the towing rope so that the line could be doubled up. The skipper of the Tobrach-N was advised to start to proceed at 3.5 knots towards Douglas in order to minimise the strain on the tow. But the Paramount continued to shear violently away to starboard. After 15 minutes or so one of the two towing lines parted; the skipper of the Tobrach-N eased the speed back more but the Paramount continued to shear away. Then after another ten minutes or so the second tow line parted as well.
The skipper of the Paramount was asked if there was anyway to disconnect the vessels steering but he informed the lifeboat and the Tobrach-N that now that the tiller compartment was dry they had managed to center the rudder amidships. In addition, their temporary repair to the cracked water pipe was holding so they had shut down both salvage pumps.
The Tobrach-N re-established the tow once more but using a longer tow with one of her tractor tyre fenders in the middle of the towing line. This would act like a shock absorber taking any snatch out of the tow. By 02:30 UTC the 4th attempt at towing the Paramount to sheltered waters started. Initially the boats proceeded at 3.5 knots towards Douglas with the lifeboat taking up escort some 1/4 mile to the port of the Paramount.
High water was at 02:30 UTC and the turn of the tide towards the SW as well as the wind dropping to a Northerly force 3 meant that the swell was reducing. The rudder problem with the Paramount was fixed and the tow proceeded uneventfully for the next three hours. (The only happenings was half hourly check-in radio calls between the lifeboat , the trawlers and Liverpool Coastguards.)
As the sea eased and the speed of the tow slowly increased towards 5.5 knots. Unfortunately, so did the strain on the tow and it parted at about 05:15 UTC when approximately 5 miles SE of Douglas Head. It was quickly re-established , and the tow commenced at steady 4.5 knots into Douglas.
The Tobrach-N got the Paramount alongside Victoria Pier, Douglas around 06:40 UTC and shortly afterwards the lifeboat was released to return back to station at Port St Mary. In near flat seas and light winds the lifeboat arrived on station 30 minutes later after nearly 8.5 hours on call.
Edited 27-Dec -01