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A sailor has died and five more are missing after a huge wave snapped the hull of a cargo ship, sinking the vessel off the coast of north Wales.
The 81-metre Swanland sank 10 miles west of the Llyn peninsula following a distress call at 2am yesterday.
The body of one crew member has been recovered and there are fears for the fate of five others, even though some were believed to be wearing survival suits.
Two other crew members were rescued from the water by an RAF Sea King helicopter co-piloted by Prince William, and dispatched from RAF Valley in nearby Anglesey. The men were taken to hospital in Bangor.
A ministry of defence spokesman explained the role played by Prince William, who is based at RAF Valley. He said. “It was a four-man crew – captain, co-pilot, radar operator and winchman – and he was the co-pilot. The weather conditions were described as extremely bad, with poor visibility and strong winds.”
The two rescued sailors said the ship had sunk quickly in stormy weather of gale force eight and above.
Ray Carson, the watch manager at Holyhead coastguard, said: “One of the survivors said that there were five of them on deck at the time, wearing survival suits because of the conditions, and there were three either below or within the accommodation.
“He described a huge wave rolling the ship, and she broke her back. It was a catastrophic failure, and she obviously sank very quickly after that.”
Two other cargo vessels in the area at the time played a key role in saving the two men. A tanker, the Bro Gazelle, was very close to the Swanland when it sank and helped provide shelter and light before the helicopters and lifeboats arrived. Another vessel, the Monsoon, spent the night searching for survivors.
The search of the Irish Sea is continuing, now involving one Dublin coastguard helicopter and one RAF helicopter from the Chivenor base in Devon, as well as the Pwllheli and Porth Dinllaen lifeboats.
Carson said two life-rafts had been spotted in the water. One was presumed to be empty, as it was the raft to which the survivors had clung. The other has washed up under cliffs at the tiny island of Bardsey, and helicopter crews were attempting to discover if anyone was inside. Weather conditions remained “fairly wild”, Carson said.
The stretch of water is notoriously rough, he said. In January 1991 another cargo ship, the Kimya, was capsized by giant waves in a similar location, causing its consignment of palm oil to leak into the sea.
The Swanland, with a gross weight of 1,978 tonnes, was carrying limestone from Raynes Jetty near Colwyn Bay to Cowes on the Isle of Wight.