Marine / Arrival of new Opportune a ‘welcome boost’
THE NEW Opportune fishing boat arrived in Scalloway at the weekend to mark something of a fresh start for the crew after a challenging 2024.
Her arrival comes nearly a year after the previous Opportune sank to the east of Shetland, with all crew rescued.
The Opportune IV LK209, skippered by Ross Christie from Burra, arrived back in Shetland from the Macduff shipyard on Saturday.
It is not a new build but a refurbishment of Conquest BCK364.
Engineer Grant Irvine said the work has been “finished to a very high standard” and said Opportune IV had a smooth sailing to Shetland in fine weather.
The hope is that she will head off to Peterhead this coming Sunday to rig out – “hauling aboard all the nets, wires and ropes” – while there are still some pieces of equipment to fit.
With some paperwork also needing to be completed, it could be into April before Opportune IV is out fishing.
And unusually for the local fleet she will be engaging in pair trawling with a boat from Scotland.
“You should be able to catch more fish and burn less fuel,” Irvine explained.
“You keep your gear bill down because you’re only actually shooting your net twice a day, and then the other boat shoots their net.
“So you’re halving your gear bill, in theory.”
The engineer said there stands to be a crew of 12 although only eight or nine will be on board at a time.
This comprises of six Shetlanders, four Filipinos and two Ghanaians.
It all comes around a year after the previous Opportune sank around 36 nautical miles north east of Bressay.
The crew members were airlifted to safety by coastguard helicopter having used life rafts.
Irvine was one of those on board at the time, and he praised the “extremely good work” of the coastguard.
“At the time you just went into autopilot,” he reflected.
“You made sure that everybody was safe before we came off our boat.
“It’s one of those things that doesn’t really feel 100 per cent real that it actually happened. But I’m just glad that we all made it off and everybody’s still okay.
“At the end of the day it’s only a boat – it can be replaced, although it does take a bit of time and money.”
Irvine said the crew still do not really know what caused the boat to sink.
He said there had been some issues with the stern gear the night before so the boat was “drittlin” in to Peterhead.
However the following morning the alarm was raised by a colleague, with Irvine jumping out of bed to go for a look.
With the bilge alarm going off, the engine room was “full of what we thought was smoke”.
But Irvine said it was likely to be steam, with water being thrown around the engine room while generators were running.
He said “we would have just lost somebody” if a crew member was tasked to head down into the engine room, and the decision was made to abandon the boat.
“We called the rest of the crew and got them to don their immersion suits and lifejackets, and then we started the process of launching life rafts,” Irvine reflected.
It was not plain sailing to get the life rafts on the water, however, with one of the helicopters which arrived on the scene recording seas of 7.5 metres.
Two helicopters were involved in the rescue – the Sumburgh based one, and another from a rig in the Norwegian sector.
“I think maybe 20 minutes, half an hour they thought the scramble time was,” Irvine said.
“It felt a lot longer than that.”
Shetland Fishermen’s Association executive officer Daniel Lawson said it will be “heartening for everyone to see the return of an Opportune to Shetland, and to see Ross and his crew get back to what they do best onboard a smart and capable vessel”.
“We hope that their return will also provide a welcome boost to Shetland’s fishmarkets and onshore fish trade, and we’ll be wishing for good, safe fishing for them and their families in their new venture,” he said.
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