Published Date: Nov 15th, 2020
A fishing vessel ran aground off the shore at Pittenweem Harbour early this morning, 15 November.
No one was injured and the crew were helped back to shore safely by the RNLI. However, the damage to the vessel was significant. It is stuck on the rocks outside the harbour and now sitting below the water line. A monitoring and clean-up operation is now underway to protect residents and the environment.
Fife Council is working with its counter-pollution contractor Briggs Marine, the Coastguard, and other agencies to remove debris as quickly as possible, and as tides allow.
Advice from SEPA and Nature Scotland suggests the fuel from the vessel is not expected to have a significant impact on local wildlife or the shoreline.
Sea food harvesters have been notified and the coastal area around the vessel will be monitored closely over the coming days and weeks in case of any pollution.
As required, a boom is being erected across the harbour entrance at Pittenweem to safeguard creels in the harbour waters and owners of vessels are being contacted directly by the local harbourmaster.
The situation will be monitored as the clean-up continues over the next few days. Updates will be issued here and through the North East Fife Facebook page
If you see any debris, please do not pick it up. Call us and we will deal with it. The numbers are 03451 55 00 00 or 03451 55 00 99 (out of hours)