Man rescued after falling into Kirkwall harbour

Tributes paid after piermaster and skipper haul man to safety

The quick actions of an OIC Marine Services piermaster and a skipper almost certainly saved the life of a man who had fallen into the icy water at Kirkwall harbour earlier this month.

Tributes have been paid to those involved in the rescue of the man who was spotted falling backwards into the sea between a large vessel and the pier.

Ross Donaldson, a piermaster with Marine Services, and a skipper who happened to be tending to his vessel in poor weather conditions, rushed to the aid of the young seaman.

Ross explained what happened: “It was a really coarse night of gales and rain on Saturday 6 November around 11.30pm. My colleague went to carry out the checks on one of the North Isles boats. I was sitting at the computer and saw a shadow go by the window; there’s not normally folk about at that time of night and it was a really poor night, so I jumped in the van and went a look down the pier. I saw what I thought was a shadow in the distance but the next I knew there was no sign of anything.”

Just moments later, Ross heard a call come over on the Vehicle Traffic System (VTS) – a skipper out on deck had seen a man falling into the water.

Ross continued: “I must’ve turned away for a second and just missed seeing him fall. I ran back down to where I knew he had been and together with the skipper we lowered down a single length of aluminium ladder and tried to encourage the guy to grab hold of it. We didn’t know at that time if he had hurt himself badly in the fall, but he was conscious, although seemed shocked and not quite compos mentis.

“It was a high tide so I lay down on the pier and reached down to get him to hold my hand and we coaxed him into holding onto a rung of the ladder. We reassured him and talked him through a rung at a time.”

Although the man wasn’t able to pull himself up, with encouragement from Ross and the skipper, he was able to use one of the pier side tyres as a foot hold and manoeuvre himself enough to allow Ross to get an arm under him.

“We concentrated on securing one limb at a time, then I was able to pull him a bit closer to the edge of the pier and lean back and lift him on to the side. The whole thing only lasted a few minutes but it felt a bit longer. He was very thankful and at pains to point out that he was okay. We wanted to get him out of his wet clothes as quickly as possible as he was very cold, so we accompanied him to his boat and made sure he was warmed up and informed his skipper and crewmates of what had happened.

“The skipper kept us up-to-date with how he was and he did have a large scrape to his back and shoulder so that must’ve taken the brunt of the fall – and thankfully not his head or it may have been a very different outcome. He was a very lucky guy. We were on nights the next night as well and he came and thanked me. He was certainly counting his blessings.”

Thankfully, instances such as these are not common, but they do happen, and some have had tragic endings.

Ross said this is the first time he has been involved in a rescue like this in his 30-year career in shipping. However, he is aware of colleagues who have experienced incidences with very sad outcomes.

“The way we work here, there is a presence on the pier 24/7 365 days a year and thank goodness for it for a variety of reasons. I am so pleased that this situation had a happy ending, but it just shows how easy it is to get caught out.”

Vice-chair of the Council’s Development and Infrastructure Committee Councillor Andrew Drever, said everyone needs to be mindful of the perils of the sea.

“It was very fortunate that a skipper happened to be out on deck working to secure his own vessel at the time and saw the man fall; it was also incredibly lucky that the piermaster had the foresight to go and take a look when he felt that something wasn’t quite right on a poor night in Orkney. Even the way the man fell was in his favour to a degree, and thankfully a successful rescue was carried out.

“It is not the case in every instance and there have been some tragic outcomes. The sea can be a dangerous entity and must be respected at all times.

“Our heartfelt thanks are extended to all those who went to the aid of this man. The piermaster and skipper are to be applauded for their swift action that undoubtedly saved this man’s life. They demonstrated a calm and efficient response, born out of a standard of training and discipline which all our seagoing staff work to. I am very proud of them.”

OIC Head of Marine Services, Transportation and Harbour Master, Jim Buck, paid tribute to those involved. “All too often we hear of the tragic consequences of people falling into the sea in harbour areas – it is less common to hear of a successful outcome such as this, particularly when late at night, dark and in poor conditions. I am delighted with the response by one of our piermasters and the nearby skipper – a shining example of seafarers working together for the benefit of all.

“It is important to stress that harbour areas can be very dangerous places, and no-one should enter unless they have a valid reason to do so and they should be mindful of all the necessary precautions to keep themselves as safe as possible.”