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Blaze engulfs oilrig support ship berthed at Leith docks

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Published Date: 16 June 2008
By Fariha Karim
THICK plumes of black smoke were blown across Leith Docks in Edinburgh yesterday after a disused boat caught fire.
Around 35 firefighters were called to tackle a blaze aboard the Viking Vulcan after a security guard raised the alarm at 4:30am.

Fire crews with five fire engines and five specialist vehicles continued to battle the fire last night, using hose-r
eel jets and water from the boat's engine room.

The Viking Vulcan began to list because of the weight of the water being used to put the blaze out.

The vessel was then pumped out to allow it to right itself.

Fire crews were due to try to move the ship, using tugs berthed at the dock last night.

The fire investigation branch was expected to be able to enter the boat today, to establish the cause of the fire, according to Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue.

The Viking Vulcan, once used as a support vessel for oilrigs, has been berthed at the Edinburgh docks, Bath Road, at the Forth Ports terminal, since 1999. It is registered to the National Shipping Company of Egypt and is believed to have been destined for scrap.

There were no crew on board when the boat caught fire and no-one was injured. A spokesman for the Forth Ports Authority confirmed services would continue as normal at the docks and there would be no disruption to traffic.

Leith Docks recovered from a period of decline after the Second World War and is now a busy port, with visits from cruise liners and is home to the former Royal Yacht Britannia.

• Two massive spare propellers for the Royal Yacht Britannia worth £14,000 were stolen from Leith Docks earlier this month in a raid.



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  • Last Updated: 15 June 2008 9:35 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Melly,

Sussex 16/06/2008 08:32:48
With 100 years of oil still available in the North Sea, if this one is due to be scrapped they`ll have to get it replaced. Fariha Karim, you naughty thing, you forgot to mention that !!
2

Navvy,

16/06/2008 10:19:39
#2-different ship?

In today's commodity market bronze has great value
3

Rob - Honest Toun,

16/06/2008 10:44:52
"...using hose-reel jets and water from the boat's engine room."

The Viking Vulcan is a ship. Like maist ships it wad cairry boats frae its davits on the Boat Deck for yaisin in an emergency. A doot nane o thae boats wad cairry enough water tae pit ony fire oot.

Fariha's faux pas is the same as cryin an aeroplane a parachute.

4

P I Staker,

16/06/2008 11:18:36
"using hose-reel jets and water from the boat's engine room."

Is this no kinda weird - why did they no use the water from the docks or is there special water in the engine room? Maybe Forth Ports would have fixed a meter on the hose and charged the Fire Service for it.
(oh aye, wonder who's been paying the berthing fees since 1999)
5

Historyonic,

Edinburgh 16/06/2008 11:45:45
#3 - A 100 years of oil left in the north sea? hahahaha, that brought a tear... - we'll be lucky to get 30... and that'll be just the dregs. If there is a 100 years left why are Shell, BP, Chevron - all the majors... pulling out? Easy oil is long gone. It is estimated that to get the remaining 3 trillion dollars worth of oil out the ground, it will cost around... errr... 3 trillion dollars...
6

Rob - Honest Toun,

16/06/2008 11:47:42
#6

A wad jalouse that whit Fariha means is that the firemen wis yaisin the ship's ain fire-fightin system.

The fire pumps in the Engine Room wad pump water frae the dock intae the ship's fire main that wad hae fire-hose connections at sindry pints aw ower the ship an the ship's fire hoses cuid be connectit tae it at the pint nearest the fire.

Wi regaird tae the water makin the ship list, it's no the wecht o the water in itsel that daes the damage but the free-surface effect that allous the water tae rin frae ane side o the ship tae the ither garrin a transverse movement o the water's centre o gravity.

A ship's tank filled wi the same amount o water wad hae nae effect ither nor tae increase the draft o the ship.
7

Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 16/06/2008 12:01:00
#2:

"Tell me what the punters who stole the spare propellers are going to do with them?"

They are made of phosphor-bronze so the likelihood is that they will be melted down and sold.
8

Yanos,

Musselburgh 16/06/2008 14:20:19
"has been berthed.........since 1999........destined for scrap"

Obviously an insurance job happening here, nice fat payout Vs paying for scrapping
9

Melly,

Sussex 16/06/2008 14:32:12
#8 Hysterical. Your not with it are you. You don`t read the petrochemical magazines, the oil company statements, the Times, the Telegraph and all other English papers? You must live in wee world of your own with no input from the outside world. For the last couple of weeks the English papers have been running the latest north Sea oil forecasts – “ north Sea Oil will last for another half century” – see tinyurl.com/6ml3np. And now the latest announcement “ North Sea Oil will last 100 years “ – see tinyurl.com/54wl8e.
We can only speculate why the Scottish papers are ignoring these forecasts. I suspect they don`t want the Scottish people to know of the bonanza still to be extracted and which could change their lives.
10

radge dug,

Taigh na Croiche 16/06/2008 22:00:34
The SNP are obviously to blame for this. And there is worse to come. Vote Labour to prevent blazes.

 

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