I was charged €80,000 for a tow

ANTON DIMECH: What should have been a standard delivery trip turned into a very expensive detour when the steering fluid ran low

Delivering a Sunseeker Superhawk 43 from Malta to Majorca is one of the joys of being a professional skipper – if that’s what the client wants then I’m only too happy to oblige. Earlier this year, my route took me from Malta to Sicily, then on to Sardinia and across to Majorca. The first part of the journey went smoothly enough, stopping briefly to brim the tanks in Marsala on the north-west coast of Sicily before pressing on towards Carloforte on the island of San Pietro off Sardinia.

The Superhawk was running like a dream, skipping across the sea at 32 knots. But after a couple of hours, the steering veered off to one side and an alarm came up on the autopilot. I went to check the engineroom and discovered that the steering fluid level was low.

I had half a litre of ATF fluid on board so I poured it into the system and carried on. After 45 minutes the alarm went off again, but with no more spare fluid, I resorted to siphoning some out of the trim tabs and used that instead. It wasn’t enough though, and I could now see that the fluid was leaking out of the steering rams.

We were still around 10nm from the southern tip of Sardinia but even at idle, the propellers pushed the outdrives over to one side so we could only go round in circles.

It was now around 17.45 and would be dark in less than an hour, so I contacted the Coastguard. They put me in touch with Cagliari port control, who took my position and asked me if I needed more hydraulic fluid or a tow.

I knew that fluid alone would not solve the problem and requested a tow, so they gave me the number of a tug to call. By the time I got through to the tow company it was 20.35, and darkness had fallen. The tug could help but would take a further two and a half hours to reach us. While we waited, the Coastguard kept an eye on our position and even sent a boat to check on us, although they weren’t allowed to tow us in themselves.

The tug boat had trouble locating us but eventually arrived and threw us a line. We were around 30nm away from the tug’s home port of Cagliari so it was 04.00 before we finally arrived and moored up safely. I thanked the captain and crew of the tug for their work and collapsed into my bunk.

The next morning, a representative of the tow company came round and asked for details of the boat’s insurance as well as my passport and skipper’s papers. I gave him everything he needed and asked him the price of the tow. He replied that I didn’t need to worry about that as his lawyers would deal directly with the insurance company. I reported this to the owner of the boat and we waited for further news.

In the meantime, I managed to move the boat to a nearby marina and arranged for the outdrive steering rams to be repaired as soon as the parts arrived a couple of days later. On the day, I heard knocking on the boat and rushed out, thinking the parts had arrived and my nightmare would soon be over. To my astonishment, the marina manager and a uniformed Coastguard informed me the boat had been impounded until the towing company was paid in full.

It was only then that I found out the towing fee was €80,000. I almost fainted on the spot. I went straight to the tow company and asked for an explanation but was told that this was standard practice and I couldn’t move the boat until payment was made.

I passed the bad news on to the owner, who immediately contacted his own lawyers. It took another two days for the lawyers to come to an agreement, having negotiated the price down to €20,000. I still felt it was an excessive price but was in no position to argue. The good news was that the boat’s insurers had agreed to pay the sum; the bad news was that it would take a month for the money to come through!

It was clear I was going nowhere until the money was in the tow company’s bank account so, to the owner’s credit, he paid it himself the following morning. True to his word, the money arrived on time, but it still took another two hours for the lawyers and the judge to agree to release the boat.

I couldn’t wait to leave port and as soon as the engines were warm, I increased speed to 35 knots and headed straight for Pollença. After my nightmare few days, it was a joy to feel the wind in my hair and see dolphins and swordfish jumping in my wake. I have rarely felt so relieved to arrive safe and sound in Majorca.