Odyssey sinks in North Sea
6th November 2024
The Fraserburgh-registered Odyssey FR 70, skippered by local man Bruce Mitchell, was lost in the North Sea on the morning of Tuesday, 29 October.
The 23.1m twin-rig trawler was reportedly around 140 miles east of Montrose when she transmitted a distress signal requesting assistance. All vessels in the vincinity were requested to assist in a rescue operation overseen by the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre.
A nearby fishing vessel responded and was able to track the EPIRB distress beacon, which had been activated when Odyssey sank. Thankfully the vessel located the six-man crew all safe and well aboard Odyssey’s liferaft, and was able to transfer them safely aboard.
A fixed-wing search aircraft was deployed by HM Coastguard, and a rescue helicopter was sent to the scene from Norway.
A spokesperson for the Aberdeen Coastguard said: “We received a beacon alert from the Odyssey at around 5.30 this morning. The position was around 140 miles east of the Firth of Forth. We put out broadcasts and requested the launch of the nearest search and rescue helicopter. A nearby fishing boat responded to a broadcast and headed to the position of the beacon, where they picked up all six members of the Odyssey crew via liferaft.
“All of the crew are safe and well; however, the ship has sunk. We are unsure of the reasoning as to why it has sunk; however, all the relevant authorities have been informed.”
The loss of the steel-hulled 148GT Odyssey brings to an end a long and distinguished career which saw the vessel move around the UK under a series of well-known skippers. She was built as Lorwood INS 229 at the John Lewis yard in Aberdeen in 1979 for Lossiemouth skipper Laurent Andrews and Don Fishing Company. The Deutz-powered Spinningdale- class vessel remained with Don Fishing Company when renamed Julie Ann FR 121 in 1985, and thereafter was renamed Helenus FR 121 in 1988 under the command of skipper Ian Peck.
In 1993, the vessel moved south after being acquired by Arbroath skipper Raymond Hall, and was reregistered as Kiroan AH 180. She was sold to Neve & Dell Trawlers of Fleetwood in 2002, where she was registered as FD 2. She moved north to Mallaig in 2007 when acquired by Tony Kenning. She was then registered as PD 23 from 2011 and renamed Ronethem in 2015, before being sold to Price Trawlers of Northern Ireland in 2017 and named Lady Rita N 24.
For the past five years she has been based in Fraserburgh under the command of skipper Bruce Mitchell.
This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.50 here.
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Main image credit: Ryan Cordiner
