Families of Cemfjord victims arrive for memorial service
THE families of the eight men who lost their lives when their vessel sank in the Pentland Firth have arrived in Caithness to pay tribute to their loved ones at the scene where they died.
Over 30 family members from Poland and the Philippines are taking part in a special service to mark the Cemfjord tragedy.
Seven Polish and one Filipino crew member drowned when their vessel overturned in the Pentland Firth carrying 2000 tonnes of cement from Denmark on Friday, January 2.
The final contact with the crew came when it was sailing between Stroma and Swona in atrocious sea conditions.
It was discovered 24 hours later by a Serco Northlink passenger vessel which was travelling between Shetland and Aberdeen.
It was the 99th time the Cypriot-registered vessel Cemfjord had sailed through the firth.
The vessel's company Brise of Hamburg flew 30 people by private jet from Gdynia in Poland to Inverness Airport.
The plane was due to arrive at Wick John O'Groats Airport but was forced to land at Inverness due to fog. Family members were then transported to John O'Groats by bus.
John O'Groats Ferries vessel Pentland Venture was due to take all 30 family members from John O'Groats to the scene where the vessel sank six months ago when a special service was to be conducted.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch are still conducting investigations into the cause of the tragedy and a final report is expected towards the end of the year.
The eight men who were killed in the tragedy were Master Pawel Chruscinski (43); chief officer Jaroslaw Orlow (54); chief engineer Roman Tamas (56); third engineer Jerome Narvasa (32); ordinary seaman Henryk Dubanowski (55); ordinary seaman Tomasz Kwiatkowski (31); able seaman Artur Podrazka (24) and ordinary seaman and cook Artur Wegorek (24).
A special church service will be conducted in English and Polish at St. Joachim's Church, Wick for the families of the men who died on Saturday at 10am.
