A 51,000-ton cargo ship named Hoegh Osaka that was transferring approximately 1,400 luxury cars is stuck on a sandbank in the Solent.
The vessel’s owners, Norwegian company Höegh Autoliners, told the BBC that the ship was “deliberately run aground off the Isle of Wight on Saturday evening after it developed problems and started to list”.
The coast guard rescued the 180-meter-long carrier’s twenty-five member-strong crew on Saturday night.
It is estimated that the ship, which is now listing at 45 degrees, was carrying around 1,400 vehicles, with a Jaguar-Land Rover spokesman confirming that roughly 1,200 were its cars. There are also 65 Mini models on board, with the BBC, The Telegraph and other stations reporting that there could be a number of Rolls Royce and Bentley cars inside as well.
A dockworker told the Daily Echo that he remembered seeing other vehicles too.
“I remember there were some kinds of vans. It was just a normal day. There were BMW cars, they had already been on board when I started loading,” he said. “It’s very possible there were other German cars such as Mercedes and Porsche on board.”
The worker continued: “I’m very interested to see how the main deck looks like now. We know how heavy those vehicles are. We put many chains on them. We’re interested to see what it looks like inside now. I don’t think the chains would be to hold that cargo with the ship at that angle. It’s very heavy and there’s lots of weight for each of those vehicles.”
Hoegh Autoliners issued a statement saying that it was “fully co-operating with all the authorities at this time to ensure the vessel remains safe” adding that no pollution has been reported.
H/T to Glenn B.!