The wreck sits upright and with its keel orientated 020/200 degrees. The superstructures have been removed. It is visible at low water.

Event and Historical Information:
The GRAMPIAN CASTLE was built by Henry Scarr Ltd of Hessle in 1956. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 398gt, 134nt; 137ft length x 28ft breadth x 14ft depth; screw propulsion powered by a 6cylinder oil engine producing 960hp; machinery by British Polar Engines Ltd., Glasgow. The vessel began life as a side trawler BOSTON SEAFOAM (fishing number FD 42) and had three name changes during its working life - ex- ARKINHOLM, ex-WESTLEIGH. The vessel was converted by the North Sea Fishing Company into a pollution control standby vessel for the offshore oil industry and at time of loss on 2 March 1987 was owned by George Craig & Sons Ltd of Aberdeen (also the vessel's port of registry). The GRAMPIAN CASTLE went aground between C5 and C6 buoys. On 6 April, it was reported that the wreck had been looted. A Notice to Mariners was subsequently issued (NM 1479/87). In January 1988, it was reported in Lloyds List that salvage attempts were to be made by Ansar Shipbreaking of Eastham. However, on 4 July 1989, Lloyds List reported that salvage attempts were to be abandoned. The wreck was struck by the fishing vessel SAPHIRE on 24 January 1991, which was abandoned and later sank (see NPRN 507008).

Sources include:

Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1987, p.30
Lloyd's List 18 December, 1987, 15 April 1988, and 4 July 1989
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1987 - 30 June 1988, number 5049362 in G
MFV Grampian Castle, Wreck Site EU
RCAHMW Colour Oblique Digital Aerial Photographs, C643604
UK Hydrographic Office Wrecks and Obstructions Database. ? Crown Copyright and database rights. Reproduced by permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office and the UK Hydrographic Office (www.ukho.gov.uk)

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, October 2013.

This record was enhanced in 2020 with funding from Lloyd's Register Foundation as part of the project ‘Making the Link: Lloyd's Register and the National Monuments Record of Wales’. Visit Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre for more resources.