Spirit

Coming from Szczecin and heading for the Northsea, the "Hanse Spirit" suffered engine trouble in the evening of Jan 5, 2012, and ran aground on Scharhoern Reef after the failure of the main engine at 8.37 p.m. Seven minutes later both anchors were down, but winds of 9 bf caused the ship to drift. At 9 p.m. it hit the ground south of buoy 3. The lifeboat "Hermann Helms" rushed from Cuxhaven and was on scene at 11.30 p.m., at 11.44 p.m. followed by the multi purpose ship "Neuwerk" which proceeded from its storm position off Helgoland. The "Neuwerk" shot a line and was able to connect within two attempts. The "Neuwerk" backed until it was 50 metres off the bow of the "Hanse Spirit" which had its bow in the wind. Two hours later both anchors were up, and the "Wulf 7" connected to the stern. At 1 a.m. on Jan 6 the tow to Cuxhaven started, where the vessel was moored at the Steubenhoeft at 5.15 Uhr. Also the tug "Stevns Arctic" had joined the convoy. After surveys and repairs of the engine the ship set sail again at 3.30 p.m. towards Rotterdam. German report with photos: http://www.cn-online.de/lokales/news/richtig-guten-job-gemacht.html?tx_ttnewsextender%5BimgIndex%5D=0&cHash=77e46d183384e99257d8a750da623542