RED TAPE CASUALTIES
Ark runs aground and Eiffel Tower toppled
NOAH’S ARK STUCK IN IPSWICH
A full-size replica of Noah’s Ark is at the centre of an escalating international incident after being stranded in Ipswich docks since November 2019. The 70m (230ft) long Ark, which houses a biblical museum, was towed over to Ipswich from its base in the Netherlands and is docked at Orwell Quay, but has been unable to leave due to a dispute with the UK coastguard. The £2.6million attraction, owned by Dutch TV producer Aad Peters, has been impounded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). They deem the vessel unseaworthy as it is 61 years old and does not have the required certification, and will not release it until the work to obtain the correct certification has been done. The owners, on the other hand, maintain that the Ark has always been categorised as a “non-certified floating object” that does not need to comply with international regulations, only leaving its home country on an “infrequent and exceptional basis”. They are desperate to leave Ipswich, not
Nick and Bernie Charman with their Eiffel Tower.
right documentation on the required timescales would incur unreasonable costs. They are attempting to get permission for a one-off voyage back to the Netherlands, but the MCA will not budge, leading to wrangling between British and Dutch authorities that has culminated in the issue being referred to the UK’s transport secretary, Grant Shapps, for adjudication. Meanwhile, Noah’s Ark remains stuck in Ipswich. East Anglian Daily Times, 4 June 2021.
EIFFEL-TOWER-ON-SEA
Nick Charman, 56, of StLeonards-on-Sea, near Hastings in East Sussex, had planned to visit Paris with his wife Bernie to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their honeymoon in the French capital in 1995. When 2020’s Covid lockdown and ban on international travel put paid to his plans, he decided instead to build a replica Eiffel Tower and install it in their front garden. But the unromantic local council have told him to remove the tower as it contravenes planning regulations. hastingsobserver. co.uk, 22 Feb 2021.
The Ark’s owners maintain it is a “non-certified floating object”