Ship with 13 crew sinking in Solent
A RESCUE operation was under way last night after a 2,500-ton cargo ship started sinking with 13 sailors on board.
The Russian vessel Mekhanik Yartsev was sailing from Riga, Latvia, to Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland, when it started to list heavily.
A Coastguard pilot vessel was dispatched to assess the safety of the ship, anchored just outside Portsmouth Harbour.
As severe weather approached the area yesterday evening, a tug boat and lifeboat were also on standby close to the ship.
The crew on board the 235ft-long vessel were all reported to be safe.
Heather Perham, 61, whose flat overlooks the water at Lee-on-Solent, near Portsmouth, said: “My husband and I were trying to guess what the ship was because it looked a funny shape.
“But when my husband looked through his binoculars he realised it was a cargo ship that was starting to list.”
A Coastguard spokeswoman said yesterday: “HM Coastguard is currently assisting a Russian vessel that has a significant list just outside Portsmouth Harbour.”
The incident comes almost three years since the Hoegh Osaka was deliberately grounded in the Solent after it began listing on departure from Southampton.
The 51,000-ton car transporter was loaded with 105 pieces of heavy plant machinery, as well as hundreds of luxury cars including Jaguars and Porsches when it left the port in January 2015.