Karin Schepers update.

AIS view of Roterdam courtesy of VesselTracker.

The Karin Schepers has just docked in the Prins Prinses Beatrixhaven dock, Rotterdam with a lucky escape after grounding on one of the few sand banks along the North Cornish coast between St Ives and Sennen beach. Maritime authorities will no doubt be speaking to the skipper and crew to get to the bottom of the ships failure to respond to frantic calls from MCA Falmouth Coastguard after she was spotted by them on the AIS not complying with the traffic separation scheme off Land'sEnd in the early ours of yesterday morning.

Karin Sheper runs aground east of Pendeen Lighthouse.

SHIP REFLOATS AFTER RUNNING AGROUND ON BEACH IN CORNWALL

Sennen Cove RNLI respond to ship aground north east of Pendeen lighthouse

The volunteer crew of the Sennen Cove RNLI all-weather lifeboat were launched this morning (Wednesday 3 August) after a ship went aground. The 9000 ton container vessel went ashore in a sandy cove. There were 13 people onboard. The ships company managed to drive astern and get the vessel off.
 

The Karin Scheper's route from Cork, including her brief stop off Pendeen Light in the early ours of Wednesday morning.

Close up look at where she ended up briefly on the sand banks near Pendeen, virtually the only sand between St Ives and Sennen - they were SO lucky!

At 04.30am, Falmouth Coastguard noted on their Automatic Identification system that the vessel was not using the traffic separation scheme correctly. All attempts were made to call the vessel by all means but the vessel went aground in the area of Cape Cornwall


The ship had run aground on a beach at Cape Cornwall. Falmouth Coastguard called out the St Ives Coastguard rescue team and North Cornwall sector manager and requested police attendance. The Coastguard tug Anglian Princess was repositioned in case it was required and the St Ives and Sennen Cove lifeboats were requested to launch a rescue helicopter R193 was also scrambled.

Subsequently Falmouth Coastguard received a call 2 hours later from the master of the vessel reporting that he had managed to refloat the vessel after moving ballast water and using his engines to get the vessel off where she had beached.
The vessel was carrying a cargo of containers and has 13 crew on board.

The vessel is now continuing on passage to Rotterdam under its own power and all units have now been stood down. There has been no damage to the vessel, no pollution and no injuries to any of the crew.

Steve Huxley, Duty Area officer, Falmouth Coastguard said:This has been a very fast moving scenario where this container vessel run aground on beach and with the rising tide and the master has managed to refloat the ship. It is now proceeding on its passage.

BBC online news report.