Russian ship runs aground off Cornwall

An enormous Russian cargo ship has run aground off the coast of Cornwall as storms and strong winds battered southwest England overnight.

Emergency services were called at around 5.40am after reports of a ship dragging its anchor and grounding on the western side of the port entrance, between Swanpool and Gyllyngvase beaches.

According to the BBC, the vessel is believed to be the 180-metre, 16,000-tonne Kuzma Minin, a bulk cargo ship built in Germany in 1980. It is currently owned by the Murmansk Shipping Company and registered under the Russian flag.

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The incident occurred after the Met Office issued a yellow warning of severe weather for the southwest of England with 65mph winds forecast.

HM Coastguard hopes to refloat the carrier, which has 18 Russian crew on board and is not carrying any cargo.

“Tugs are on their way to the vessel and a lifeboat is standing by at the scene,” a Coastguard spokesperson said. “The Falmouth Coastguard Rescue Team have cordoned off an area around the ship. Tugs will be attached to the vessel and, as the tide rises, the plan is to re-float the vessel.”

Sky News reports that the ship currently has a list of five degrees but there is no report of any pollution. It also notes that live shipping tracking data shows the anchor “started dragging at 4am from the middle of Falmouth Bay”, with the crew “managing to pull it back a few times before it ran aground nearly two hours later”.

The vessel reportedly set off from the port of Terneuzen in the Netherlands, The Guardian says.

Ian Cocklin, a former sailor in the Royal Navy, tweeted pictures of the boat saying: “It’s huge and it’s close.”