A research ship owned by the U.S. Navy toppled onto its side while at dock in Edinburgh on Wednesday, leaving dozens of people injured.
The cause of the accident, which left the vessel tipped at a 45-degree angle, was under investigation, the police said. At least 33 people were injured, with 21 of them taken to hospitals, according to the Scottish Ambulance Service.
The 250-foot-long vessel, the Petrel, was bought by the Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen in 2016 and underwent extensive refitting to take part in expeditions to explore shipwrecks around the globe. In 2017, the Petrel was involved in the discovery, 18,000 feet beneath the Philippine Sea, of the remains of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, a cruiser that was sunk during World War II in one of the worst disasters in American naval history.
After Mr. Allen’s death in 2018, his estate took control of the Petrel. The ship was placed in long-term moorage in Edinburgh in 2020 because of “operational challenges” during the pandemic and was ultimately sold last year to the U.S. Navy, according to Mark Peterson, a vice president at Oceaneering International, the Texas-based sub-sea engineering company that currently operates the vessel.
“We are monitoring the situation at Imperial Dock in Edinburgh and offering support to U.S. citizens who were involved,” the U.S. Consulate in Edinburgh said on Twitter. “Our thoughts are with all those affected by this incident.”
The U.S. Consulate was not immediately available for comment on whether U.S. citizens were among the injured.
In a statement about the accident in Edinburgh on Wednesday, the police said, “A ship on dry dock has become dislodged from its holding,” without mentioning any cause. A spokesman added that an investigation had been opened.
After the ship toppled over, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, one of the city’s main hospitals, asked people to avoid attending its emergency room if possible because of the high number of injured people expected from what it described as a “major incident.”
Eight people remained in the hospital as of Wednesday evening, “some with serious injuries,” according to statement by the local National Health Service branch. Jacquie Campbell, a senior N.H.S. official in the area, said that it had canceled outpatient appointments and surgeries to free up the surgical staff.
