News / Tug to help salvage missing fish cages
A SPECIALIST tug from Denmark is steaming to Shetland in the hope of salvaging the 12 cages of farmed Shetland salmon that have been drifting in the North Sea since Christmas.
Fish farm owners Meridian Salmon have chartered the vessel after an earlier attempt to take hold of the cages failed on 30 December.
The 12 cages, which broke free from moorings south of the isle of Unst during the 100mph Christmas gales, contain 300,000 fully grown salmon weighing around 1,000 tonnes, and with an estimated sales value of more than £3 million.
They were last seen around 40 miles east of the isle of Whalsay at the new year, and efforts continue to track them down.
On Thursday the Scottish government is sending a spotter plane and the patrol boat Hirta to the area to help with the search. The plane had been due on Tuesday, but was prevented from leaving Inverness by this week’s strong gales.
Staff discovered the cages were missing when they returned to work on Boxing Day, triggering a major air and sea search east of the island.
Meridian Salmon brought their powerful well boat Victoria Viking north from the Scottish mainland on 28 December. It managed to attach a tow line two days later, however the weight of the cages and the strength of the tide meant the operation had to be aborted.
Meridian Salmon managing director Mark Warrington and seawater director Colin Blair travelled north from Scotland’s wind battered central belt on Tuesday to co-ordinate the rescue.
On Wednesday they met local coastguard officers and chartered a local fishing boat to search the area where the coastguard believe they are most likely to be.
Mr Warrington said he believed the cages were still afloat and drifting, though photographs from passing aircraft suggest that two cages are now submerged.
“This is a big disappointment not only for us as a company, but for all the other companies like the primary processors and the transport companies who take the fish south,” he said.
“We have a salvage tug coming across from Denmark to start the salvage operation, which will be run in conjunction with the effort to relocate the cages.”
Mr Warrington said that they had not been able to track down the right kind of specialist vessel at short notice when a weather window made it possible to attach a tow to the cages on 30 December.
“We absolutely must locate the cages. They are a potential hazard to shipping and I am quite sure they will still be floating to some extent,” he said.
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