Tradgey

[vic mcclymont]

It has been reported that the Clyde Marine Services tug BITER capsized and sunk off of Custom House Quay Greenock.
It is feared that two men are trapped in the Hull.
Thoughts are with the families at this time.
Vic

[Ivan Cloherty]

We have seen a lot of tugs capsizing in recent years and looking at a photograph of the upturned 'Biter' to me it seems that naval architects, testing tanks and CAD have a lot to answer for in the search of their Uptopia of shallow draft and maximum bollard pull and ever higher accommodation; their quest seems to be lets see what is the shallowest we can achieve combined with how and how much can we pile on top. At this time we don't know why 'Biter' capsized and it would be imprudent to speculate, but this is just an observation from an old fashioned seaman. Having worked with NA on new buildings their experience of water borne objects is walking through puddles in the dockyard, they seem to walk and talk on another planet and are critical of practical seamanship requirements that interfere with their design

[Tony Taylor]

We have seen a lot of tugs capsizing in recent years and looking at a photograph of the upturned 'Biter' to me it seems that naval architects, testing tanks and CAD have a lot to answer for in the search of their Uptopia of shallow draft and maximum bollard pull and ever higher accommodation; their quest seems to be lets see what is the shallowest we can achieve combined with how and how much can we pile on top. At this time we don't know why 'Biter' capsized and it would be imprudent to speculate, but this is just an observation from an old fashioned seaman. Having worked with NA on new buildings their experience of water borne objects is walking through puddles in the dockyard, they seem to walk and talk on another planet and are critical of practical seamanship requirements that interfere with their design

Funny you should say that Ivan, it was my thought exactly when I saw Dutch registered tug "Buzzard" en route from Tyne to Tees where it currently is, I thought I wouldn't like to sail that out of the river at all. It looked so out of proportion.

[Tony Taylor]

Funny you should say that Ivan, it was my thought exactly when I saw Dutch registered tug "Buzzard" en route from Tyne to Tees where it currently is, I thought I wouldn't like to sail that out of the river at all. It looked so out of proportion.

I just found a picture of the Biter and it does not appear to be "top heavy" at all, if you look at the Buzzard you will see the difference.

[Keith Tindell]

No link for photo Tony.

[Tony Taylor]

No link for photo Tony.

sorry Keith, got distracted, i will go back and look

- - - Updated - - -

sorry Keith, got distracted, i will go back and look

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais...vessel:BUZZARD

[Tony Taylor]

sorry Keith, got distracted, i will go back and look

- - - Updated - - -



https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais...vessel:BUZZARD

https://clyde-marine.co.uk/images/biter-370x251.png

[Keith Tindell]

Will be interesting when the report is published, exactly what she was engaged in doing etc.

[Ivan Cloherty]

I just found a picture of the Biter and it does not appear to be "top heavy" at all, if you look at the Buzzard you will see the difference.

Just to clarify, I was talking about tugs in general as well as 'Biter' as I said I'm not going to speculate on that particular incident. On Inquiries in the past about capsizing vessels, it has been a common occurence that vessels have been altered accommodation wise, or additional deck equipment has been added above the waterline, but no fresh stability calculations have been carried out, a paramount factor for any vessel. I am but a lowly seamen and there are more technical and larger brains than my wilting vegetable that will draw more clarity on the subject.

[Jim R Christie]

I spoke to a friend last night who watched her capsize, he was onboard a ship berthed in the James Watt Dock which is where Hebridean Princess and Biter were heading at the time of the incident.
She went over in seconds and his opinion was that she girted as she appeared to have a bridle attached to the Heb Princess.
They then launched their FRC which was the first on scene (the RNLI etc arrived about 10 mins later) and their boat crew started banging on the upturned hull with no response. The tug then sank 20 minutes later into the silt such that at the moment it's considered too dangerous for divers to go down to inspect the wreck
I'd imagine both crew were in the wheelhouse when it happened as there's no other accommodation to speak of - they haven't been heard from since.