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Gales might not have toppled ship – expert

As 7 still in hospital, dry dock mystery grows

By Joe Hutchison

AN expert yesterday said it was unlikely that strong winds caused a ship to topple over, injuring 35 people.

Seven people were last night still in hospital after the R/V Petrel keeled over at Edinburgh’s Leith Docks on Wednesday as 45mph gusts hit the area.

The vessel, owned by the US Navy and operated by Oceaneering International, was still at a 45-degree angle yesterday.

Initially it had been suggested that gales may have caused the incident.

But Dr Iraklis Lazakis, from Strathclyde University’s department of marine architecture, yesterday said this was ‘unlikely’.

He told BBC Scotland: ‘I’ve never myself come across any such accidents, being involved in a number of dry dockruns

‘This is very, very unusual’

ings throughout the world, as well as through my academic career.

‘No such thing has happened before. It’s very, very unusual for such accidents to happen.

‘The dry dock is like a dug-up big ditch or shelf where the ship sits down with all its structure and weight.

‘So it might have been unlikely just to be tipped over by the wind.

‘It’s something that really needs to be investigated very, very thoroughly to make sure what was the original cause of the whole accident.’

One casualty had emergency surgery following the incident.

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said: ‘We will have inspectors at the scene today to begin an investigation into this incident, working with Police Scotland.’

Dales Marine Services, which the dry dock, said it was ‘liaising with the emergency services and relevant authorities’.

NHS Lothian hospitals admitted 21 patients, and five were still being treated yesterday. Two people were taken to hospital in Fife after the incident and both were still being treated yesterday.

The Scottish Ambulance Service said a further 12 were treated at the scene.

The R/V Petrel has been used for deepwater searches for shipwrecks, including the long-lost USS Indianapolis, which was sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Pacific Ocean during the Second World War.

The vessel had been fitted out for specialist searches by its previous owner, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died in 2018.

It was sold last year to the US Navy and has been owned by its Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center since then.

A US Navy spokesman said: ‘We are working closely with the onsite authorities, who are in the best position to help those in need and to provide status updates.

‘We will continue to communicate with our contacts at the scene in order to understand what occurred, the actions being taken, and the long-term impacts. Our thoughts and prayers are with those injured and their families.’

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