On Friday, the cargo ship Valday ended up adrift on the North Sea during a storm. In the early afternoon, the Netherlands Coastguard’s emergency tug Multraship Commander managed to secure a towline to the vessel, videos of which have now been released. Three crew suffered minor injuries during the salvage operation.
The Valday experienced technical problems during the storm on 6 December and lost propulsion. The ship released its anchors, but lost them and became adrift on the North Sea, some 22 kilomteres off the coast of Rotterdam. The crew consisted of seven people and the ship was not carrying any cargo. At the time, there was a wind force of 8-9 Bft and waves of 4 metres high.
Also read: Cargo vessel adrift in storm on North Sea
Injuries during salvage operation
The Netherlands Coastguard’s emergency tug Multraship Commander was the first to arrive at the scene for salvage attempts. In the morning, a crew member of this vessel was injured while attempting to make a tow connection. The crew member was taken to hospital by Coast Guard helicopter, but was soon allowed to leave the hospital.
During following attempts another two crew members suffered minor injuries. They went to hospital for check-ups.
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Successful towing line connection
In the end, several attempts were needed before the tug could make a tow connection with the ship. At that time, a second tug had also arrived on scene, the Fairplay-33, but attempts to secure a towing line with this vessel were unsuccessful.
By mid-afternoon, the crew of the Multraship Commander succeeded after all with the support of the KNRM lifeboat Antoinette. The sea was also a lot calmer by then. The videos below were taken when the towing line connection was made.
The emergency tug Multraship Commander then towed the Valday to the port of Rotterdam. According to MarineTraffic, the vessel arrived in the port at around 11 pm on Friday evening (6 December).
Pictures and videos by the Netherlands Coastguard.
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