Aquaculture business Scottish Sea Farms (SSF) has successfully raised its sunken landing craft, the Julie Anne, which sank in Scotland's Sound of Mull in July without warning.

Following the vessel’s sinking on 4 July 2024, appointed salvors Jifmar Group and environmental mitigation experts Briggs Marine worked to secure all vents and outlets, remove the fuel on board and prepare the Julie Anne for refloating, said SSF.

A first attempt to recover the vessel via the approved method of lift bags was made on July 21 but proved unsuccessful. 

A series of test lifts thereafter led to the decision to change the recovery method to a specialist crane vessel with the capacity to lift the Julie Anne directly.

"Thanks to the project team's combined expertise, the total estimated diesel fuel loss arising from the vessel’s sinking and recovery over the eight-week period was contained to [around] 200 liters," it said. 

"Even just one liter of fuel lost to the sea is, however, one liter too many, and our primary focus now is identifying the root cause of the vessel sinking."

The Julie Anne will be towed to a secure location where a full inspection will be carried out to identify why the vessel sank.

To ensure that the salmon at SSF's adjacent Fiunary farm remains food-safe, appropriate testing took place on Aug. 5 for analysis by specialist external laboratories, the results of which concluded there was no indication of hydrocarbon taint and the salmon remain safe for human consumption.

For added reassurance, fish will now be tested again and analyzed, the firm added. When the results confirm there has been no change, harvesting will begin.