Twenty three people - including four terrified passengers - were dramatically winched to safety in 70mph winds when a "freak" seven metre wave smashed into the side of the Riverdance cargo vessel, forcing it to list a massive 60 degrees.

It ran aground 200 yards off the coast of Cleveleys, near Blackpool, at 4am on Friday, and a salvage operation was underway to refloat the vessel.

The captain issued a mayday call at 7.43pm on Thursday when cargo on the boat - which was travelling from Northern Ireland to Heysham - shifted to one side causing the boat to lean dangerously eight miles off the coast of Fleetwood.

Eight people were airlifted from the starboard side of the boat by the RAF and six by the Royal Navy. The four passengers included one woman and three men - three in their 60s and one in their 30s.

Two were taken to hospital with minor injuries after being brought back ashore at Blackpool Airport.

Early on Friday morning, the stricken vessel was grounded off the coast as rescue teams waited for high tide at 6am to try to refloat the vessel and assess the damage.

Crews were removing cargo and working to determine if there was any threat of an oil leak.

But questions were raised today as to why the boat was allowed to sail at all in conditions described as "atrocious".

Rescue crews risked their lives in horrific weather conditions to rescue those on board.

Kevin Hobbs, chief operations officer of Seatruck Ferries, which owns the vessel, said: "Ships travel in bad weather. This weather is no worse than normal weather in the Irish Sea. The captain and the company take the decision to sail or not. We have not had an instance like this before.

"Many ships are at sea in these conditions and they are extremely unlikely to be affected unless hit by a wave like this. When the ship set off there was no cause for concern."

Tony Redding, from Seatruck Ferries said: "The conditions deteriorated during the early evening and it was hit by a freak wave which disabled her with the impact.

"It was a routine trip the weather was poor but not poor enough to persuade the captain not to sail.

"The fact of the matter is that the ship would not have been in that situation if it had not been struck by the huge wave."

Nine of the crew remained on the vessel last night after they managed to stabilise the boat before it washed aground close to Shell Flats near Cleveleys, half a mile off shore.

The 19-strong crew was made up of a majority of British staff but also included some foreign nationals.

Three helicopters, two Seaking's from the RAF and one from the Irish coastguard in Dublin, had been sent to the ferry, along with tug boats.

The "roll-on, roll-off" Riverdance, which was carrying a cargo of trucks and trailers, set off from Warren Point in Northern Ireland on time on a scheduled journey to Heysham.

But it was blown way off course by strong 70mph southerly winds.

The passengers and crew were brought back to Blackpool Airport by the RAF and Royal Navy helicopters, a journey which took just six minutes.


The 115-metre Riverdance was built in 1977, and has the capacity for 55 vehicles and 12 passengers.

It is the second major sea rescue recovery in the Irish Sea in the last 13 months. Seven men - including Preston man Simon Foddering - died when a helicopter plunged into the sea close to a gas rig on December 27 2006.

For full story see Friday's lancashire Evening Post.


8pm - RAF crews put on standby for rescue mission
8.20pm - RAF crews scrambled to the scene. Lifeboats already launched
9pm - Passengers and crew on ship's deck as rescue operation to winch them to safety begins
10.30pm - RAF Sea King helicopter visible close to runway at Blackpool Airport. Not the first to arrive
11.15pm - Kevin Hobbs, of Seatruck, tells the media there was no reason why the ship should not have sailed, despite the "atrocious" weather conditions
12.30am - The crew from the RAF Valley tell of the daring rescue mission but insist they are not heroes. They remain on standby to return to the scene for further possible evacuations

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