Photos started appearing on social media earlier this week of a ship aground on the sands of the Severn Estuary between my old haunt of Lydney Yacht Club and Sharpness.
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| photo: kris upfold |
According to local news (Gloucester Live), the EMS Servant, out of Santander in sunny Spain, misjudged her approach to Sharpness Dock on Monday and ended up aground on Saniger Sands. The bank and therefore the channel has, according to local knowledge, shifted recently. As sandbanks in the Bristol Channel are wont to do.
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| photo: kris upfold |
It would be inane to suggest the estuary is forgiving, but the sands are soft. Initial attempts to tow the ship off failed, so she sat there, intact and unharmed with the crew remaining aboard until she could refloat. Tuesday was a neap tide, so she was stuck a couple of days, but I read this morning that she's now safely in Sharpness.
The cargo ship is 325' long. And there's I worrying about manoeuvring Petrella's 36' of length in and out of her berth.
I've blatantly lifted the above photos of the ship from a Facebook Group called Dursley Matters where they were posted by a Kris Upfold. I've not troubled him for permission but hope the credit and link back will suffice, by way of apology. The remaining photos are, of course, my own, from various past visits to Lydney, looking out over the sands where the EMS Servant ran aground.
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