Ship now upright again after incident in Leith Docks

The ship which tipped over in Imperial Dry Dock in March has been righted, apparently by the dock owners, Dales Marine.

We asked Dales Marine for any comment but they replied: “At the moment we are unable to provide any update to the Petrel or provide any details of ongoing works.”

It appears that the ship has been moved with the help of cranes, and that the work began on Monday.

The RV Petrel moved onto its side on 22 March resulting in a multi-agency response coordinated by Police Scotland.

All casualties were confirmed as being removed from the area by the early afternoon, and Dales Marine confirmed that everyone was accounted for.

The ship is owned by the US Navy when it “dislodged from its holding and fell to its side, injuring a number of shipyard workers”.

A spokesperson for the US Navy said just after the incident: “The Navy is working closely with the shipyard and on-site authorities. Our thoughts and prayers are with those injured and their families, with hopes for a quick and full recovery.”

One of the victims spoke about the incident last week. Constantin Pogor, a Romanian national who was working on the Petrel disclocated his elbow and fractured his pelvis as a result of the ship moving suddenly. The 48-year-old said:

“I heard a loud noise, felt movement and I just had this reflex reaction to try and hold onto something but I didn’t get to grab onto anything.

“I flew from one side of the bridge to the other and landed on my right side and hit my ribs on a metal beam.

“I must have passed out because I remember just sort of coming to – that’s when I realised my elbow was dislodged.

“A colleague then tried to move me – it was realty painful and that’s when I realised that although I could move my legs, something was wrong in my hip.

“I still don’t even know what actually happened that day to cause the ship to fall.

“I know Dales and HSE are involved in some kind of investigation and I’ve now sought my own lawyers to investigate independently on my behalf too and I think there’s a lot of other people onboard who’ve done the same.

“But I want to shed light on what happened to me just so people back home know I’m relatively okay.

“It was scary at the time – especially when you’re not able to speak the same language.

“But I’m being looked after now, have a translator and I’m focused on my recovery.”

Solicitors Digby Brown say they are assisting a number of people injured in the incident.