# The "Westnor", small ship-big collision.



## red devil (Nov 11, 2008)

During the late 1970's the the 2200dwt cypriot flagged tanker "Westnor" was a regular visitor to the Immingham oil terminal. On the day in question she had steamed onto the finger pier berth 8 which was a short four berth jetty at right angles to the main berth approach road. Berth 8, which was capable of handling ships up to 3000t is on the inshore side of the pier.
The Westnor arrived at Immingham during a spring flood tide, berthed and began loading her cargo of gas oil without any problems.
High water occured about an hour before cargo was due to finish so the crew were looking forwards to a few hours break before they could sail on the following flood tide.
About 15 minutes before the end of cargo the mate called the jetty operator to standby and at the same time a crewman was seen adjusting one of the sternlines. By this time the ebb tide was roaring past the ship at around 6 knots and as soon as one rope was removed from the bits the others started to part.Within a few seconds the ship had swung off the berth stern first and was soon at right angles to the tide At this point the loding arm snapped in half showering the deck wih slippery oil, luckily the jetty operator had closed the header valve as soon as he had seen the moorings start to part, and with that the forward moorings parted one after another allowing the Westnor to be carried down onto the jetty structure.
The ships bow collided with a large concrete barrier at the junction of the finger pier and jetty punching a large hole in the starboard side and a few seconds later the starboard accomadation landed heavily against the pipetrack/roadway. The full wieght of the ebb tide was now acting on the port side and she immediatly heeled over to a 15 deg list, putting her port maindeck under water. Those of us watching were convinced she would turn over and sink such was the force of the water.
To add to the confusion onboard the ship then blacked out and the master ordered abandon ship!
Although two tugs had rushed over from the west jetty they could do nothing to help and the crew decided to get off by climbing off the starboard bridge wing onto the jetty pipelines many of which had been smashed together some even piled one on top of each other. They all managed to crawl along this graoning mass of steel to safety, helped as much as possible by jetty staff.
It was at this point that we realised why the ship seemed to be supported as the tide went down. As she hit the jetty a huge I beam which supports the pipetrack and roadway had been knocked off one of it's piles and had penetrated the engine room just under the poop deck. As the tide fell this huge beam had been bent down counteracting the force of the tide acting on the other side. By low water when the ship was recovered by tugs the hole in her starboard side was huge and the poop deck and bulheads pulled upwards and distorted for several feet. Thankfully all above the waterline.
The jetty was also badly damaged with the roadway out of action and the main pipetrack with around 20 pipelines unsupported for about 100 feet which left some of them looking like lengths of spaghetti rather than steel!
It was several months later before repairs had been carried out and things were back to normal. But this remains the most frightening of the collisions I have seen.


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## hawkey01 (Mar 15, 2006)

Red Devil,,
interesting story. There is a photo of the WESTNOR in my gallery. Seems to be the right age etc. Maybe you could have a look and see if this is her.

Hawkey01


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## red devil (Nov 11, 2008)

*Westnor*

Thanks for your reply Hawkey01. It took a great deal longer to type the story than the ship took to wreck it's self!
Your photo does indeed show the actual vessel, how amazing is that?
The I beam entered the engine room adjacent to the funnel were there is a change of colour on the hull in the photo.
I have also mentioned this ship on the Hull Gates & Klondyke thread in the forum as I seem to recall she may have had something to do with Sir Basil Parkes and was operated from an office near Corporation bridge in Grimsby.
I must say that after the accident she did not return to Immingham again, but this certainly did'nt stop her continuing to trade. The fact that she lasted until at least 1999 is quite incredible for a tanker.


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## hawkey01 (Mar 15, 2006)

Red Devil,

Thanks for your reply. Glad it was the right vessel. Some of these small tankers seem to go on for many years. Even after that major collision. Amazing!

Hawkey01


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