The 80-metre Rotsund being towed by the aquaculture support vessel Gina Mary. The Gina Mary was designed by Macduff Ship Design and built by Havyard, Norway. Its duties include towing feed barges to fish farms, and it is equipped with a 20-tonne towing winch and a 1,200hp propulsion system.

Photo: Inverlussa Marine Services

Fish farm support vessel tows cargo ship to safety after grounding

Gareth Moore editor

Published 11 March 2025 - 12:44

Fish farming vessels operated by Mull-based Inverlussa Marine Services came to the aid of a stricken cargo ship off the east coast of Skye yesterday.

The Gina Mary, 25-metre aquaculture support vessel contracted to Mowi, and the Kathryn Matheson, a 15m NabCat catamaran contracted for Bakkafrost Scotland, were able to mobilise from nearby Kyle Harbour to aid the Rotsund, an 80m Norwegian-flagged cargo ship that was having trouble holding anchor.

Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) volunteer lifeboat crews from Kyle and Portree were already at the scene, having been called out by the UK Coastguard after the Rotsund dragged her anchor and ran aground in the Breakish area of Skye. The Rotsund is understood to have been collecting cargo from or delivering it to a salmon feed facility.

Kyle lifeboat Spirit of Fred. Olsen was called out first, at 2.18am. It arrived at 2.40am and found that the vessel was aground at the stern and was being pushed ashore by the wind and choppy seas.

Waves hit the stern of the Rotsun and the rocks.

The crew of the cargo vessel were trying various things to free the Rotsund, so the lifeboat stood by to provide safety cover. Due to the size of the vessel, Portree lifeboat had also been called and arrived approximately an hour after Kyle lifeboat.

With the rising tide, the Rotsund’s crew managed to use the vessel’s thrusters and engine to take the boat off the rocks at 4.15am.

Inverlussa’s 26m fish feed delivery vessel Havgull had received a call for help in towing the Rotsund, but did not have the capacity to do so. It relayed the call to the company’s head office on Mull, which was able to dispatch the Gina Mary, a Scottish-designed vessel equipped with powerful engines and a strong towing winch.

The Gina Mary was able to take the cargo vessel under tow and relocate it to a safe location at Kishorn Port, Inverlussa said.

“Thanks to the crews on the Havgull, Kathryn Matheson and Gina Mary for their quick and professional response in coming to the aid of fellow mariners,” added Inverlussa, which also highlighted the response of the RNLI crews.