Vermontborg

Vermontborg - Delfzijl, Holland

The stranded, 2002-built hull of Wagenborg's latest "V" class multi purpose ship Vermontborg is seen in this series of pictures resting atop the rocks near La Capelle Reef off the west coast of Guernsey, U.K. in the English Channel during the afternoon hours of January 5th, 2003. The new hull was enroute from the Daewoo Shipyard in Romania to The Netherlands where it was to be fitted with an accomodations block and undergo final fitout at the Bodewes Volharding Shipyard.

The Daewoo Shipyard in Romania is located on the eastern side of the country which is the western shore of the Black Sea. There the hull was built and launched probably during November or early December of 2002. From the hull set out under tow sometime in December and sailed southbound through the Bosporus Strait, Turkey into the Sea of Marmara. From there they continued southwesterly through the Dardanelles Strait and into the Aegean Sea bordered by Greece to the west and Turkey to the east. The southward voyage through the Aegean brought the tow past the southern tip of Greece and the Island of Crete into the Mediterranean Sea where the voyage turned westerly.

They passed the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardegna to the north and the Island nation of Malta as well as the African nations of Tunisia and Algeria to the south. As they headed towards the Strait of Gibraltar they passed Spain to the north and Morocco to the south before entering the Great Atlantic Ocean where their course turned to the North. Rounding Portugal and the northwestern shores of Spain, France loomed to the east and the open Atlantic to the west. Continuing northwards the English Channel finally emerged over the horizon however it is here that rough weather began to hassle the tow. After Susanne A and Vermontborg rounded Brest, France and started heading northeasterly through the western entrance of the English Channel the towline broke and the powerless hull drifted onto the rocks near the La Capelle reef and stranded.

The hull had been under tow of the tug Susanne H when the tow line broke in bad weather. Vermontborg grounded on the rocks around La Capelle reef (which is just off the Northwest coast of France) at 05:05 on the 3rd at very high tide during a storm that was producing strong winds and rough seas. It seems the bow grounded first then the stern swung around to starboard and came to rest on the rocks as the tide went out. Vermontborg was just left high and dry.. Since then it has sustained extensive damage as successive tides, which are not yet sufficient to refloat the hull, continue to shift it around.

Salvage crews arrived on the scene Saturday morning although it is unlikely that they will be able to do much until the next sufficiently high tide which is not expected until sometime in the middle of the January. In the meantime the ship has attracted thousands of visitors since her stranding on January 3rd. Many of the Island's 60,000 residents have ventured out to the grounded ship for a closer look.

Information courtesy Richard Lord and the The Guernsey Press website

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