The ship on the beach Les Sables d' Olonne

[Frederick]

Last Friday a waiter at a bar overlooking the aground ship almost on the prom at Les Sables d' Olonne Vendee  told me it was being moved  at the weekend ... town web cam shows its still there !  It ran aground a week ago during the bad storms we had ...if you  google  "Artemis a ship aground ..there are some stunning photos of it  ."... anybody wants to  copy / post one here  if it can be done ?...there is a report of a "rupture " but my French is not up to fully understanding whats happening to the ship   ...I watched  oil being pumped off   but no idea what the cargo is ?  ..it looks like an oil tanter / bulk carrier of some sort  ..anybody know whats going on.?...I am curious as I use the beach in the summer and also for the sake of the town hope it is  well gone by then ....

[Tressy]

Here's a very short film of the ship on the beach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11UD9VrT_Lg&feature=user

[quote user="Frederick"]...I am curious as I use the beach in the summer and also for the sake of the town hope it is  well gone by then ....[/quote]

I'm sure it will be, but on the news the other night it was reported that the ship has attracted many day trippers, so I don't suppose too many people are complaining - for the time being.[:)]

[Hagar]

[quote user="Frederick"]anybody know whats going on.?...I am curious as I use the beach in the summer and also for the sake of the town hope it is  well gone by then ....[/quote]

It looks like it's going to be there for a little while - at least until the next spring tides in April. The "rupture" you heard about was probably the towing cable that broke ending the earlier attempts to get her off.

It is not an oil tanker by the way, the oil you saw being pumped out was diesel fuel oil. There are still some ten tons on board and that could make a bit of a mess if the hull was breached.

I am not sure if she is carrying any cargo - they have ballasted her down with sea water and they are going to put in some temporary moorings.

The big danger is more storms arrive and then she starts to break up.  The other risky moment is when they try again to pull her off the beach.

There is some french guy with a blog trying to get up a petition to have it declared as a UNESCO world heritage sight. Some seem to think its the most exciting thing to happen in Les Sables d' Olonne in decades.

rgds

Hagar

 

 

[Frederick]

Hagar...Thanks for the information...........Its certainly getting the day trippers out.! ...I visit the town a lot ..we do most of our shopping there and usually have lunch on the prom...our favourite eating spot was packed and the car parks are pretty full ....It does not help having the prom closed to traffic one way for half of its length ..... its forced more traffic alongside the docks  Understandable while she is being pumped out  and the fire department is keeping everybody back  ....  So... anyone going soon...... expect parking problems at weekends .It .might be better to park other side of the port entrance and take the little foot  passenger ferry over into town ..quite a few  people seemed  to be doing that ....   

[Will]

There are some excellent pictures here: http://funtasticus.com/20080311/ship-aground/

It's a Dutch general cargo ship - carrying various bulk cargoes in coastal trade. I can't find from the casualty reports what it was carrying when it went aground, it appears to have been in ballast, i.e. empty. But interestingly I found that the same ship had run aground before, in the Kiel Canal, while carrying peat. There are several ships named Artemis, including a P&O cruise ship which sufered storm damage in the English Channel on the following day, and had to put into Falmouth for repairs. Must be an unlucky name.