Marine news

John Kinsman

40-foot Royal Wedding Card

Oban RNLI Fundraising Group has hit on a good way to make money. They have launched a 40-foot long Royal Wedding card as a present for Prince William and Kate Middleton, and all those who sign it give a donation to the Lifeboats Institution.

The ‘card-a-scroll’ has been specially made by Benderloch artist Ian Gowdie, and expresses in beautiful calligraphy the good wishes of the signatories to the royal couple. The aim is to collect thousands of signatures (and donations), so the scroll will be touring Argyll and Bute until shortly before the April wedding.

Scallop Dredger Deaths Inquiry

An Ayrshire fisherman, Eric Mcllwraith, 48 of Girvan, has told a Fatal Accident Enquiry how he searched for the crew of the capsized scallop dredger Aquila in July 2009. The dredger overturned off Ardnamurchan Point after its trawling cable became snagged on the seabed. Mr McIlwraith suspected trouble when he got no response on his mobile phone from the Aquila, and headed towards the boat’s last known location, where he found the vessel floating upside down. There were two lifeboats and another vessel already on the scene, but the Girvan skipper joined in the search. Sadly, there were no survivors except for Timmy Rowley, 32, who had managed to use planks to keep himself afloat. He was picked up by a passing yacht, but Skipper Tony Hayton, 45, died, as did Peter Hilton and Thomas Sanderson, both aged 52.

Fishing 2011

The Annual Fishing 2011 exhibition, scheduled to take place at the SECC in Glasgow on Thursday, Friday and Saturday March 24 – 26, has been cancelled. Exhibitors agree with the organisers that the most important thing is to combine resources and produce a really outstanding show next year, as it will be the exhibition’s 25th anniversary.

The pictures below show the SeaFish Stand at last year’s exhibition, and the fishing boat Actinia, built by Seaway Marine, also at the 2010 show.