A cargo ship ran aground in the north of the island last year after its chief officer left the bridge to go to the toilet.

That’s according to a preliminary Casualty Investigation Report by the Isle of Man Ship Registry on behalf of the Latvian authorities.

The CEG Orbit loaded 1150mt of wheat grain at Gladstone Dock in Liverpool on August 25 last year and was bound for Belfast when the incident occurred.

According to the report, at midnight on August 26, the master was relieved by the chief officer and retired to his cabin to rest.

At about 2am, the chief officer ‘felt a sharp pain in his intestines and he had an urgent need to leave the bridge to go to the toilet located one deck below’.

At 2.15am the vessel ran aground on the East Coast of the Isle of Man near Cranstal when the ‘spring tide’ was near its maximum 9.0m height.

This means that the vessel ran aground ‘at the worst possible time to try and re-float off the sloping sand and rock beach’.

The engineer officer, who had been resting in his cabin was awoken by the hull vibrations caused by the grounding, and assumed that the ship was experiencing engine or gearbox problems.

He ran to the engine-room to investigate, but didn’t find anything obvious. He did however note that the main engine had slowed down so he went to the bridge to find out what had happened.

At 6am, the local authorities and owners were notified of the grounding and that there were no injuries, and appeared to be no pollution.

At 11am, a member of the Isle of Man Ship Registry, who authored the preliminary report, attended the scene.

They were there to do a preliminary hull inspection in order to check for leaks and/or breaches of the hull.

It was possible to see under the vessel due to how the vessel was sat on the sand and no leaks and or breaches of the hull were detected.

At 2.47pm the first attempt to re-float the vessel took place at high tide (8.8m), with local tug the Wendy Ann attempting to assist. This attempt failed.

On August 27, a second attempt was made at high tide (9.1m/2.42am) with the assistance of two tugs (Wendy Ann and the CT Vector from Liverpool).

This was successful, and the vessel was afloat again by 3am.

After testing the engines and steering gear the CEG Orbit made way under her own power to Douglas harbour where further inspection by Harbour Authority divers, a surveyor from Bureau Veritas and the IOM Ship Registry took place to determine that her condition was safe to proceed to sea.

Dive inspection revealed minor propeller damage on two blades, a localised deformation of the starboard aft bilge keel, scraping and a few indentations from rocks to the bottom but no hull breaches or cracked welds.

The CEG Orbit was subsequently removed from the Latvian Ship Registry and is now operating under the name Leila, under the flag of Cyprus.