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Wave Warning Sign Delay

WASH wave warning signs around Lochryan have not been replaced because Dumfries and Galloway Council have yet to decide on their specific wording.

Reason for the delay was revealed following Stranraer man William McCalmont's revelation last week that he nearly lost his life to a six foot wave at Cairnryan.

The Marine Accident Investigation Board had already recommended that the signs be improved after an incident in Lady Bay last September, in which a six metre cabin cruiser was swamped by a wash wave believed to have come from Stena Line's fast cat Stena Voyager.

As a result the MAIB asked for the Lochryan sailing times to be signposted.

They also recommended that the council liaise with other groups to produce a risk assessment to users of the Lochryan shoreline, as well as establishing a statutory harbour authority responsible for all of the loch and its users.

When approached by the Free Press to see how the work on the signs was progressing, Bob Maxwell, the council's Local Services Manager, said:

"We are quite happy to put all the sailing times on the signs if that is what's needed, but there is more to this than meets the eye."