A Ukrainian seaman has died after falling from a height on a ship stranded for months off the North Tyneside coast.
The accident happened on the Brasschaat bulk carrier, which has been anchored in the North Sea since June after its owner went bust.
A coastguard helicopter was called shortly after 2.20pm on Thursday to reports that a person had fallen from a height.
Fellow crew performed CPR in an attempt to save the man’s life before paramedics and a doctor arrived. Northumbria police confirmed on Friday that the 29-year-old man had died.
The Brasschaat bulk carrier is one of three ships that have been anchored a mile and a half out to sea near Tynemouth since June. They were owned by a Belgian company, Sobelmar, which hit financial problems last year, and have been managed by an India-based crewing agency, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, since June.
It is understood that the man, who has not yet been named, had been onboard the Brasschaat since 20 June.
A spokesman for Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement said on Friday: “It is with deep regret that we confirm that a crew member serving on board the managed vessel MV Brasschaat suffered a fatal accident yesterday afternoon whilst carrying out his shipboard duties.
“Next of kin were immediately informed and a full investigation into the cause of the accident is now under way by all the relevant authorities. The deceased individual was a Ukrainian national. No other details are being released at this time.”
Police officers were on board the 179m-long Brasschaat as it was brought to shore at Northumbrian Quay in North Shields on Friday for investigation. It is understood that the Brasschaat shipmaster is due to give a statement to police about the man’s death. Fifteen seafarers remain onboard the vessel.
Local residents have previously expressed concerns that the three ships are eyesores blighting the Tynemouth coastline.
One resident of nearby Whitley Bay, quoted by Newcastle’s Evening Chronicle in August, said: “I don’t want our coast to become a kind of dumping ground for container ships.”
He added: “There are three of them a couple of miles offshore which are sitting high up in the water so it doesn’t look like they have any cargo. I don’t know if they have a skeleton crew but they seem empty and they’ve been there for ages.”
The Brasschaat was named after its home district in Flanders, while the other stranded ships, Vyritsa and Zarechensk, have Russian names.
Sobelmar, whose contracts included fertilisers, grain and coal, shipped between Murmansk in Russia and western Europe and the Baltics. The firm was reported to be seeking bankruptcy protection last year after restructuring talks with its German bank broke down. This year the lender HSH Nordbank was granted control over the four-bulker fleet, according to the shipping news service TradeWinds.
It is thought that the three ships off North Tyneside’s coast had initially been part of Sobelmar’s plans to renovate an ageing fleet. It is not clear how they came to be in the north-east, but Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement has an office in Newcastle.
