THE RUSSIAN Consul General and Lord Lieutenant of Argyll and Bute will help dedicate a memorial on the Isle of Gigha.
Andrey Pritsepov and Lord Lieutenant Patrick Stewart will join islanders, crew and Igor Rakitin at special events on Sunday, exactly 25 years to the day since the sinking of the Kartli on December 18 1991.
Earlier this year Igor contacted the Gigha Heritage Trust to see if a memorial could be arranged. He wished to mark the lives lost and to express the gratitude of the Russian people for the part the islanders and the rescue services from Islay and Kintyre played in the dramatic events that led up to the wreck of the ship at Tarbert Bay on the west coast of Gigha.