Spirit of Adventure blog
Dover
Whilst en route from Southampton to IJmuiden, Netherlands on 16 November 2021, Spirit of Adventure encountered a small, abandoned boat in the Strait of Dover. Fortunately there were no persons stranded with the craft, however it posed a hazard to safe navigation in the English Channel, and as such, after discussion with the UK Coastguard we agreed to recover it.
The ship was safely brought to a stop and held in position while one of the fast rescue crafts was launched and the crew manoeuvred the boat towards the ship, and attached lifting strops so it could be hoisted up to the forward mooring deck using our monorail crane. The boat had to be punctured in order to fit it through the mooring platform, where it was then secured onto the forward mooring deck for landing on our return to the UK.
At the time of sighting the boat the light was fading, and it would have been much harder to spot in darker conditions. Through diligent watch keeping and fantastic teamwork, Spirit of Adventure's crew was able to identify and remove this hazard to navigation.
Kind Regards
Captain Darin Bowland, MSc
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