Man injured on toppled Leith ship speaks out for first time
A man who sustained serious injuries after a vessel tipped in a dry dock in Leith is speaking out for the first time
A worker who was seriously injured working on the RV Petrel, which tipped last month (March 22)is speaking out for the first time.
Constantin Pogor, a Romanian national, suffered a dislocated elbow and fractured pelvis.
35 people were injured in total, some seriously, after the Petrel - owned by the US navy - toppled over in a dry dock in Leith.
Now legal firm Digby Brown is confirming they are assisting a number of those workers.
Constantin has decided to speak in order to let relatives back home know he's "relatively okay".
He said: "I heard a loud noise, felt movement and I just had this reflex reaction to try and hold onto something but I didn’t get to grab onto anything.
“I flew from one side of the bridge to the other and landed on my right side and hit my ribs on a metal beam.
“I must have passed out because I remember just sort of coming to – that’s when I realised my elbow was dislodged.
“A colleague then tried to move me – it was realty painful and that’s when I realised that although I could move my legs, something was wrong in my hip."
Investigations have been continuing into what exactly caused the vessel to tilt to a 45 degree angle.
Earlier this month specialised cranes were brought to the dock, but engineers are still working out the best way to right the ship.
Constantin continued:
“I still don’t even know what actually happened that day to cause the ship to fall.
“I know Dales and HSE are involved in some kind of investigation and I’ve now sought my own lawyers to investigate independently on my behalf too and I think there’s a lot of other people onboard who’ve done the same.
“But I want to shed light on what happened to me just so people back home know I’m relatively okay.
“It was scary at the time – especially when you’re not able to speak the same language.
“But I’m being looked after now, have a translator and I’m focused on my recovery.”
A Digby Brown spokesman said: “We can confirm we assisting a number of injured people affected by the Leith docks incident.
“Our enquiries are at an early stage so we cannot comment further on the specifics however we will continue to support and advise all affected people.”
A spokesman for Dales Marine Services said there were "no new updates or comments at this time".