Russian cargo ship grounded at Cornwall coast

A 16,000-tonne Russian cargo ship, the Kuzma Minin, ran aground at Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth at 5.40am this morning, after it drifted and dragged anchor in strong winds.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) declared it a major incident and planned to refloat the 590ft ship—which had a crew of 18 Russians but no cargo—by attaching tugboats.

A helicopter flew to the ship to assess the situation. Despite nearby rocks that might have caused damage, there were no reports of pollution in the area around the ship, though this would need to be monitored during the rescue.

The massive vessel, believed to be the Kuzma Minin, grounded off Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth at about 05:40 GMT. pic.twitter.com/d9XIuMdS4N

— Mike Beard (@1stdefence) December 18, 2018

With a yellow weather warning for the area, rescuers needed to wait for high tide and lower winds before they could attempt to move it.

The ship had apparently set off from Terneuzen in the Netherlands.

Source: BBC News, The Guardian