After being stranded in the UK’s Humber Estuary for two weeks, the Dutch short-sea cargo ship, H&S Wisdom, was successfully freed by salvage crews. The vessel had run aground on March 2 while inbound from Rotterdam with a load of steel. Despite three previous unsuccessful attempts to free the ship, efforts continued with supplies being ferried to the crew and cargo being offloaded onto barges alongside the vessel.
Humber Rescue’s volunteer crew assisted in ferrying surveyors to the stranded ship, and after a lightering effort, H&S Wisdom was finally refloated on Saturday, March 15. With the help of a tug, the vessel was guided back into the channel and escorted to a nearby pier for further surveys. Residents who witnessed the event expressed that they would remember the incident of the cargo ship getting stuck in the river for a long time.
The successful rescue operation came just in time, as officials had feared the vessel might remain stranded until the next high tide in April. The 82-meter-long vessel, built in 2002 and registered in the Netherlands, faced challenging conditions before finally being freed from the mud in the estuary. The efforts of the salvage crews and volunteers ultimately led to the successful outcome of the operation.
