# Ship grounding off Dover Storm Angus



## Geoff Gower (Sep 8, 2011)

A helicopter rescue is underway off Dover after a cargo ship collided with a barge as Storm Angus swept across southern England. 
All*23*crew are being*taken off the 200m-long Saga Sky*after it began taking*on water, the Maritime and Coastguard agency said.
It lost power and steering after colliding*with a barge loaded with rocks three miles off the coast.
Lifeboats from Dover and Dungeness*are also standing by the stricken vessel, which is registered in Hong Kong and is described as a general cargo ship built in 1996.
The severe weather has*meant that the cargo vessel has drifted onto the Varne sand bank.
Duty commander Steve Carson said:*"The weather conditions this morning are particularly challenging and we have declared this a major incident.
kind permission of BBC

"We are now planning to evacuate the crew from the cargo vessel and our HM Coastguard helicopters from Lydd and Lee-on-Solent are on the scene."
Deal and Dover Coastguard Rescue Teams have been put on standby to help bring ashore crew members airlifted*from the vessel.
Up to*2,000 properties in Devon and elsewhere in the south west of the country are without power after high winds and heavy rain*battered the coast.
Winds from Storm Angus, the first of the season to be named, peaked at 84mph at Guernsey Airport.
The strongest gusts to hit the mainland, 80pmh, were*recorded at Langdon Bay on the Kent coast on Sunday morning.


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## borderreiver (Oct 11, 2008)

She seem to under her own power heading for a lee anchorage of Dungeness. reports that only some of her crew taken off.


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## TommyRob (Nov 14, 2010)

Would a barge that low show as much of a target on radar in heavy weather?


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## Stephen J. Card (Nov 5, 2006)

Yes. Rather large and full off rocks. Unless not paying attention to watch radar AND lookout. Perhaps minimal light on the barge but the tug was there too. Perhaps the lookout could not see for the gantry in front of the bridge!


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## Brian Dobbie (Nov 18, 2005)

She has arrived in Dunkirk.
Perhaps drydock !!


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## Day Sailor (Nov 9, 2014)

What happened to the barge? It doesn't get much mention in the editorial. It was certainly punching above its weight from the look of the much bigger ship.


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## 5036 (Jan 23, 2006)

Day Sailor said:


> What happened to the barge? It doesn't get much mention in the editorial. It was certainly punching above its weight from the look of the much bigger ship.


I'm thinking a marine Thomas the Tank Engine. Where was the Fat Marine Controller?


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## borderreiver (Oct 11, 2008)

Or what was doing in the channel in such bad weather.


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## Day Sailor (Nov 9, 2014)

borderreiver said:


> Or what was doing in the channel in such bad weather.


Minding its own business at anchor... until it was set upon. The larger ship suffered engine failure, had dropped both anchors but drifted down onto the barge. Its AIS plot looked as though someone had scribbled on the screen.


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