On Sunday morning, 2nd November, reports were received that a dredger, the Abigail H, had suddenly sunk whilst at the quayside in Heysham Harbour, although all hands were safe. The fire service and coastguards were quickly in attendance followed by other agencies including the local authorities. Once all persons involved are confirmed safe the LRF agencies primary interest in these incidents are both the possibility of oil pollution affecting our coastline, with the resultant clear up, and also contamination of shellfish beds, which may necessitate closure notices being served. However, in the initial stages of this incident, the small leakage of diesel was confined to the harbour where the port authorities were able to deal with it.
On Wednesday 5th November the vessel was declared a total loss by the insurers and a salvage operation commenced to pump out the remaining 4000 litres of diesel on board, to prevent any leakage when it was removed. LRF agencies liaised with the Heysham Port authorities through the County Oil Pollution Officer and the Coastguards so that any change in circumstances could be quickly addressed. The vessel remained in Heysham Harbour but was secured in an upright position by numerous ropes attached to a fleet of excavators acting as anchor points. The risk of pollution was minimised by deployment of floating booms and a number of plans to refloat or lift the vessel were considered by the insurers and other experts.
Liaison continued until the weekend of 22nd/23rd November when a floating crane, the "Mersey Mammoth", attended Heysham Harbour. It lifted the Abigail H and then moved it to a secure location in the north east corner of the dockyard. Fuel oils were removed from the vessel, closely monitored by the MCA Counter Pollution Branch, and she was towed to Fleetwood.
She arrived in Fleetwood by the 30th December, where she remains secure and back in the hands of the original owner. The incident is now closed, there is no further threat of pollution or incident from this vessel. It is now thought likely that the vessel will be repaired and put back into service rather than dismantled/disposed of. .
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