The Sarnia Cherie – one of a number of James Fisher and Sons ships which regularly visit Jersey – had just weighed anchor south of St Brelade’s Bay and was steaming past Corbière when the incident happened.
The Duke of Normandy tug was in the UK carrying out commercial work at the time and no replacement vessel had been chartered.
A concerned Islander contacted the JEP after overhearing the conversation between the ship’s captain and harbour officials on marine radio. He said the incident demonstrated the need to have a tug in Jersey at all times, as the vessel could have drifted towards rocks if the wind had been blowing in the opposite direction.
But Bill Sadler, Jersey’s Harbourmaster, said that the faulty vessel had never posed any risk to the Island.
He said: ‘This particular vessel had been anchored in St Brelade’s Bay after discharging [fuel] in St Helier on the Thursday and Friday. When she got under way from her anchorage on the Saturday she experienced a brief loss of power for around 13 minutes. Due to the prevailing conditions – the reason she was anchored in St Brelade’s Bay – when she did lose power she was in a position where she would have moved away from the shore and any hazards by the natural elements.
‘The loss of power was brief and, had she needed to, she could have anchored. The anchors are not reliant on the ship’s power for deployment, in this case she did not need to anchor as the engines were restarted.
‘In the very unlikely event her engines had not restarted she would have deployed her anchors and could have stayed safely at anchor for a number of days whilst her owners and P&I club [insurer] arranged suitable towage for her to be taken to a port where repairs could be undertaken.’
A spokesperson for Ports of Jersey said that a relief tug is sometimes chartered when conditions are forecast to deteriorate and berthing in port might prove difficult.
They said that, if necessary, Jersey Coastguard can call upon the MANCHEPLAN – the Anglo-French Joint Maritime Contingency Plan – which includes a provision for requesting search and rescue vessels – including tugs – from other jurisdictions if they are needed.
James Fisher and Sons, the Sarnia Cherie’s owners, were contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.
