Crewmember fatally injured in severe weather

Three crewmembers have been injured, one fatally, in the English Channel this morning. Annie PG, a 12,000 dwt product tanker operated by Pritchard-Gordon, was struck by a wave and it is believed that the force of the impact threw the crewmembers across the deck.

Falmouth MRCC co-ordinated the response, and a helicopter from RNAS Culdrose airlifted the three men at 11:40 this morning. Two men were taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital with injuries. A third man was taken to Derriford Hospital and later died.

The Met Office had issued a severe weather warning for the English Channel, with winds gusting up to 70 knots. The airlift was made more difficult in heavy seas with up to 40 knots of wind.

Pritchard-Gordon tankers have confirmed that Annie PG is seaworthy and proceeding to Falmouth.

More Information

BBC News Cornwall
Falmouth Packet

Image by Andrew Bennett, kindly licensed for re-use under the Creative Commons BY 2.0 licence.