The Wyre Dock channel where the Erimo is stranded. Tiger's Tail is the large bank on the right. There have been many strandings on the sandbank over the years but none with such disastrous consequences.

The Grimsby registered trawler Erimo is operated by Spanish owners. As she tried to negotiate the tricky channel, under command of a pilot, the 180ft vessel grounded on Tiger's Tail at the seaward end of Kirk Scar and was rolled onto her beam ends and slipped down into the channel.

As the tide dropped the Erimo rolled onto her starboard side and an oil spill barrier was erected around her. Vessels in the dock are effectively trapped until she can be moved. Fleetwood lifeboat was called out and took off her 13 man crew as well as the pilot.

On the next tide she began to disappear under the water as the barrier was hurriedly extended. 8000 kilos of monkfish from the Irish Sea in the hold will have been ruined by pollution from the 36 tonnes of diesel still aboard. She is already settling into the glutinous mud that forms the bottom of the channel and the Jubilee Quay.

At high water there was not much left to see. As she is is an old vessel (built in Goole in 1962) a decision on her future will depend on how much damage has been caused to her engines by the water. It has been suggested that floating cranes will try to get her upright so that she can be pumped dry.

A salvage attempt has been made on the Erimo. A specially built lifting barge has been towed from the Clyde and positioned alongside the capsized trawler. The barge has a lifting capacity of 1,000 tonnes and the operation is being carried out by the Plymouth based Western Ocean Towage under direction of marine consultant Tom Henderson.