Storm Darragh Drives Barge Aground off Normandy
Despite multiple attempts to connect an emergency tow, a runaway barge has gone aground on the picturesque beaches of Sotteville-sur-Mer, France. It was one of many marine casualties stemming from Storm Darragh, which swept over the British Isles and the coastline of northern France last weekend.
On Friday evening, the 120-meter deck barge AMT Challenger broke away from the oceangoing tug Boka Glacier at a position east of the Isle of Wight, on the north side of the English Channel. The barge drifted with the wind, and it entered French waters at about 2300 hours.
On Saturday, the shipowner contracted with two salvage tugs - Abeille Horizon and the Princess - to attempt to connect an emergency tow. In sustained winds of 40 knots, conditions were too rough for the operation and their efforts were not successful - even after a French Navy helicopter flew a four-man salvage team onto the barge to assist.
Courtesy Premar Manche
By Sunday morning the barge was just six nautical miles off the coast of the Seine-Maritime region, near St. Valery-en-Caux. At about 1300, French SAR coordinators determined that a grounding was imminent and informed local municipalities to take precautions, including setting up a cordon to keep bystanders at a distance. The barge went aground shortly after on a sandy beach near Sotteville-sur-Mer.
Upon grounding, the deck barge was immediately ballasted down using its own pumps in order to prevent further movement. It poses little hazard to the marine environment, according to the Maritime Prefecture of La Manche and the North Sea (Premar Manche). No pollution or hull breaches have been reported.
"At this stage the risk is very low, because there is a very small quantity of marine diesel on board. The rescue plan will define the means to be implemented. Currently, three tugs are positioned offshore to ensure that the barge does not move," Rouen sub-prefect Audrey Baconnais-Rosez told local outlet BFM.
As of Monday, the weather was still too rough to begin to make salvage arrangements or begin a close inspection, according to local media. In the meantime, Dieppe's public prosecutor has launched a judicial investigation into the casualty.
Local authorities have called on the curious public to stay back from the grounded barge and avoid hazards, including the risk of attempting to observe the site from nearby cliffs. In March, a mother and a child of three both perished in a fall from the steep cliffs above the same beach.