A huge cargo ship spent hours stricken on New Year's Eve after it ran aground off the coast of Devon. Bulk carrier the Scot Pioneer got into difficulty in Teignmouth harbor shortly after 5pm on Wednesday, with local boats scrambling to its aid.
The 3,600-tonne vessel was not refloated until the early hours on New Year's Day. It had eight crew on board and no injuries or damage to the vessel has been reported. Teignmouth harbor master Rob Parsons described the operation to free the ship as “challenging”.
He told the BBC: “We tried to get her off but, Mother Nature, you'll never win when the water is leading.”
The harbor team later returned to Scot Pioneer at around 01:30am to try to move it.
Mr Parsons said: “We all climbed off about 03:30, wishing everyone a happy new year.”
He said the 90-metre vessel, registered to Inverness, had been freed at approximately 03:15am.
The Coastguard confirmed the Scot Pioneer was successfully refloated at high tide, according to DevonLive.
The Scot Pioneer reportedly ran into trouble in Teignmouth at around 5:25pm on New Year's Eve.
The front of the ship was stuck on a sandbank, while the rear was in the fishing lane, DevonLive reported. It had been traveling to Teignmouth from the port of Hamburg, Germany, after setting sail on Boxing Day, according to marine traffic website VesselFinder.
It reported the ship is the second large vessel to run aground in Teignmouth harbor in the past 12 months.
In April last year, a cargo vessel known as Scot Bay was stranded for nearly 12 hours before being freed by a coordinated effort involving the harbor master.