High Seas' Drama As Ferry Evacuated

A dramatic high seas' rescue has narrowly managed to prevent a 'repeat' tragedy, with crew and passengers safely evacuated from a now-beached roll-on roll-off ferry.

On the very day that the 55th anniversary of the Princess Victoria ferry disaster - which claimed more than 130 lives - was commemorated, a total of 19 crew members and four passengers were flown to safety from the vessel, Riverdance, after it was hit by a freak wave in bad weather.

The original tragedy, in 1953, saw the passenger ship Princess Victoria go down off the County Down coast – with just 44 surviving out of out of 177 people who set out in storms on the 21-mile crossing from Scotland to Larne.

In a remarkable echo of the disaster, the same weather conditions – a freak, giant wave – started the chain of events which could have so easily led to major oss of life again.

The Riverdance ran into trouble last night in high winds in the Irish Sea and has since run aground off Blackpool.

Initially four passengers and 10 crew members were rescued, with the remaining nine crew rescued later.

A spokesman for owners, Seatruck Ferries said: "The conditions are such that the master requested helicopter transfer of all personnel: "All nine (crew members) are now safely off."

He added: "The issue was that as we approached high water the vessel started to rotate broadside on the beach.

"The high swell caused a list and, under those circumstances, the master decided safety came first."

The irony of the rescue wasn't lost on those who just hours earlier had attended the Princess Victoria commemoration in Larne where the group heard a specially commissioned accordion lament, also called Victoria, being played for the first time.

The service organised by the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes was held in Larne, at the site of a memorial to the disaster.

Every woman and child on board the ship died in the disaster.

The mark which it made scarred the memories of a generation, and it remains very real for people in Larne to this day, according to local minister, Reverend John Nelson, who was at the ceremony.

It was one of the first roll-on, roll-off ferries built, and its fate was sealed after a huge wave crashed through the car deck doors on the North Channel route between Stranraer and Larne.

The wreckage of the Princess Victoria still lies at the bottom of the Irish Sea, five miles north north east of the Copeland Islands.

Meanwhile, as weather conditions worsened, the crew of a trawler that was driven aground in gale force winds and high seas on the Scottish island of St Kilda have also been winched to safety.

The 14 had been unable to launch life rafts due to the poor conditions. All those on board were airlifted off by Stornoway Coastguard helicopter.

The trawler, the Spinningdale, ran aground on rocks by steep cliffs.

(BMcC)