Paddle boat named ‘Oliver Cromwell’ sinks to watery grave in the Irish Sea
A MISSISSIPPI style paddle steamer boat sank in the Irish Sea on Friday afternoon as it was being towed from Wales to Northern Ireland.
The 36 metre boat, named the MV Oliver Cromwell, which uses paddle wheels to proper itself through the water, was en route to Coleraine after being sold to a new owner.
The boat began taking on water at 2.20pm and was totally submerged two hours later, according to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute.
The UK coast guard responded to reports the vessel was taking on water and mobilised the Holyhead lifeboat, the Christopher Pearce, to the scene. There were no people on board the boat, which was built in 1922 and converted into a riverboat hotel in 1993. The coastguard said nobody was hurt during the incident and the sinking did not cause any environmental damage.
A spokesperson for the RNLI said the situation was too dangerous to attempt to put someone on the sinking boat in an attempt to rescue it.
‘On arriving at the scene, it was evident the 36 metre vessel was in trouble and beginning to sink from the bow.
‘A very quick decision was made by the coxswain that the situation was too dangerous to try and put any crew on board the stricken vessel. Within half an hour, the vessel had sunk further into the sea, and at 4.20pm she sank completely into the 50 metre deep waters,’ he said.