Near capsize of Lady Moira at Tetney mono-buoy

The available account is a Ships Nostalgia forum discussion of a photograph showing *Lady Moira* laid over. Participants described the tug as the stern tug while a tanker approached the Tetney mono-buoy, east of Spurn Point at the mouth of the Humber Estuary. They reported that the tug's bridle or gob rope parted as it manoeuvred into position astern of the tanker. According to one participant's operational explanation, this moved the towing point towards the tug's centre and created a large heeling moment.

Classification

Incident Type: Near capsize
Severity: Medium
Tug involvement: yes

Vessel Details

Field	Value
Vessel Name	Lady Moira
Vessel Names	Lady Moira / Lady Anya
Vessel Type	Tug

Incident Details

Field	Value
Date
Location	Tetney mono-buoy, east of Spurn Point, Humber Estuary, UK
Region	North Sea
Coordinates	53.6500, -0.1800
Fatalities
Injuries	1
Missing

Key facts

Forum participants place the incident east of Spurn Point during the berthing of a tanker at the Tetney mono-buoy.
Lady Moira was reportedly acting as the stern tug when its bridle or gob rope parted.
Participants reported that Lady Anya took some load from the towline and the tanker crew released the tow.
One participant reported that the chief engineer was injured and landed by the Spurn lifeboat.

Narrative

The available account is a Ships Nostalgia forum discussion of a photograph showing Lady Moira laid over. Participants described the tug as the stern tug while a tanker approached the Tetney mono-buoy, east of Spurn Point at the mouth of the Humber Estuary. They reported that the tug's bridle or gob rope parted as it manoeuvred into position astern of the tanker. According to one participant's operational explanation, this moved the towing point towards the tug's centre and created a large heeling moment.

The same discussion credits the master of Lady Anya with positioning that tug to relieve some towline load, while the tanker crew released the tow. Those actions reportedly removed the forces acting on Lady Moira and prevented a full capsize. A participant also reported that the chief engineer was injured and taken by the Spurn lifeboat to Grimsby Fish Dock. The precise date cannot be confirmed from the available account.

Contributing factors

Factor	Evidence status	Description
Parted bridle or gob rope	Reported	Forum participants attributed the severe heel to the rope parting during the tanker-assist manoeuvre.

Investigation

No formal investigation report has been identified. The available account is a secondary forum discussion, so the operational sequence and reported injury have not been independently confirmed.

References

Ships Nostalgia: “lady moira laid over”