A 500-tonne vessel, the Settler, which had run aground off the Isle of Skye, has successfully been refloated. The 40-meter fish carrier was relaunched on Wednesday evening and subsequently escorted to Mallaig on the mainland.

 

The incident occurred in the Kylerhea and Glenelg area around 18:40 on Tuesday. Responding to the situation, Kyle and Portree RNLI lifeboats arrived at the scene just before 20:00. However, at that point, the tide had receded too significantly to attempt refloating the ship.

 

To ensure the safety of the four-person crew aboard the vessel, they were transferred to another nearby ship to await the return of the tide. On Wednesday morning, the crew reboarded the Settler, and with assistance from another ship, successfully refloated it during high tide at 18:30.

 

The Mallaig RNLI lifeboat accompanied the vessel to Mallaig, where it will undergo assessment for any potential damage on Thursday. Fortunately, no injuries were reported during the grounding, and no pollution was detected, as confirmed by HM Coastguard.

 

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has been informed of the incident and is currently conducting a preliminary assessment to determine the causes and circumstances that led to the grounding.