An incredible sight here at Gylly beach in #Falmouth where a huge cargo ship has run aground. Updates at @CornwallLive pic.twitter.com/lJUKmp9Zul— Graeme Wilkinson (@Graemewilki) December 18, 2018
VesselTracker's AIS app shows how southerly winds up to 60 mph have forced the 183m long Russian bulk carrier Kuzma Manin to drag her anchor off Gyllyngvase Beach at Falmouth in the early hours of this morning...
the huge carrier is lying beam on this hugely popular summer beach...
with the Falmouth lifeboat Richard Cox Scott and the Falmouth harbour tug, St Piran are in attendance. With no big rescue tug stationed in this part of the UK the local Falmouth tugs will be faced with a huge challenge to re-float the ship at high water, around 13:10 this afternoon.
The Kuzma Manin had recently sailed from the Dutch port heading west.
In September earlier this year 20 Russian crew members were stranded since May 15, 2018, on the Kuzma Minin in the Dutch bulk port of Terneuzen because the shipping company could not meet its payment obligations. The crew could not disembark, because they would then have to renounce their wages and other schemes. The Ferns Centre Foundation has decided to organize a fundraising campaign, because the crew has been left to its fate and has not had fresh fruit for months, almost no money and also needed all kinds of products. They have to pay their contract or they will no longer receive any wages. The shipping company already has several ships under detention due to major financial problems. A collection for the crew started on Sep 24. There were already two bags with groceries ready to be brought on board.
The Sevenstones Lightship off Lands End has seen the southerly winds steadily increase to nearly 50 knots in the last few hours - the worst possible wind direction for a casualty on the south facing coast of Cornwall.
And it's not looking too cracky here off Newlyn on the webcam this morning either!
Successfully re-floated in the afternoon - a satisfactory outcome and a credit to all those involved in challenging conditions.
