Freighter Lady Alida lost propulsion power on 3 nautical miles south off Gwennap Head. The vessel was en route from Terneuzen to Waterford with a cargo of sand, but suffered a complete engine failure near the rocky coast of UK. The crew was unable to restart the engine and the strong SW wind and currents pushed the vessel toward the rocks. The accident was reported to the local authorities and Coast Guard station, which sent all-weather lifeboat Ivan Ellen to assist the troubled cargo ship. The rescue boat arrived at the scene of the accident just within 25 minutes and attached a towing line, taking the freighter Lady Alida southwards to safer waters and stopped her drifting to rocky shallows.
Later to the salvage operation joined lifeboat City of London III, which also attached a tow rope. The initial plan was to tow the freighter to Mount’s Bay anchorage, but the strong SW wind made it complicated and difficult for the lifeboat to turn the vessel. So the Coast Guard and local authorities agreed that general cargo ship Lady Alida can anchor in deeper water south off Gwennap Head and wait for tug assistance.
Meanwhile, the salvage was contracted and the towing tug was en route from Falmouth to the troubled freighter with ETA seven hours. The lifeboats remained near the vessel on standby to assist is situation worsen, as the vessel started dragging anchor.
During the accident there were no injured people and no reported pollution. The salvage is expected to be started later today.
The general cargo ship Lady Alida (IMO: 9760380) has overall length of 88.00 m, moulded beam of 14.00 m and maximum draft of 4.80 m. The gross tonnage of the freighter is 2,544 GRT.