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Welcome to this month’s Dart Harbour bulletin
Rob Giles, Harbourmaster
Saint Christophe 1 Much of Dart Harbour’s time over the last couple of months has been taken up with dealing with the aftermath of the saint Christophe 1 capsize and liaising with the vessel’s insurers. the 23m French fishing vessel capsized and sank in the early hours of March 10 whilst alongside Dartmouth’s south embankment which is within the limits of Dart Harbour and Navigation Authority. the crew of five – all French
nationals – were rescued by the RNLI and were safe and unhurt. one of the major concerns for Dart
Harbour was the amount of diesel fuel that was on board the vessel - estimated at 10,000 – 15,000 litres and the possibility of it polluting the water column. to this end, booms were placed around the vessel and a 24-hour watch was put in place. the result was no pollution to the river – in fact the wildlife were given a boost with the catch of fish that was on board the vessel. “While we always hope incidents such as this will not happen, Dart Harbour has detailed plans in place for dealing with such circumstances which in this case proved very effective at preventing pollution
from the fuel,” explained Dart Harbour harbourmaster Capt Rob Giles. “the 1.5 tonnes of fish that were on board the vessel when she capsized have been devoured by wildlife – seals, crabs and I am informed by the divers, a resident conger eel. “It’s clear that the river’s flora and fauna have not been adversely affected in any way by pollution – instead they have thrived. Make sure you check the breaking strain of your crabbing lines this summer!” the vessel was successfully lifted
on April 2 in an operation organised by the vessel’s insurers and at the time By the Dart went to print, essential seaworthy deficiencies as a result of the sinking, were being rectified so that the vessel could be cleared by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to leave the harbour under tow. these deficiencies included ensuring the watertight integrity of the vessel and sanitisation to make it safe for humans to work on board. Dart Harbour was still awaiting a departure date for the vessel and an onward destination. Capt Giles added: “As usual,
the vast majority of the people of Dartmouth were very understanding of the situation and I wish to express my sincere gratitude. “I would also like to pay tribute to the Dart Harbour staff involved for their professional handling of the situation and their willingness to work additional shifts to ensure the situation remained stable. “I hope the incident hasn’t put the crew off Dartmouth and they will visit us again under better circumstances.”
Moorings Policy Dart Harbour’s new Moorings Policy for 2016 to 2020 will be published in the summer having undergone widespread public consultation. safe navigation, optimisation of moorings and maintaining and improving the environment have
been taken into consideration when drafting the plan. other considerations include strategic direction from the Dart Harbour Board, responses from the public consultation and feedback from Dart Harbour’s senior management team. Dart Harbour owns and manages 1,640 moorings and licenses the remaining 1,000 private tackle moorings including marina berths.
Cruise Ships unfortunately our first cruise ship of the year, the National Geographic explorer was forced to cancel the latter stages of a cruise that was due to see it coming into Dartmouth on April 16. the ship was repositioning from the Antarctic when it encountered technical issues that have slowed its progress, meaning that it was running a couple of days late. In order to be on time for the
following cruise, NG explorer took the decision to drop some ports. We were disappointed with the
news but itinerary amendments, whether for technical reasons or weather conditions, are par for the course in this industry. We are working hard at getting more bookings with the vessel in the coming years. We do have a good relationship with this company and hopefully, we’ll see NG explorer back here in the future. our next ship ocean Nova, departs Dartmouth on May 1 and as arrangements now stand, she will be arriving 48 hours before that date and will remain mid-river for the weekend.
Young Champions - Blackawton Primary School
Word collection was the theme of a day on the River Dart for pupils from Blackawton Primary school. the trip on board the Cardiff Castle
was sponsored by Dart Harbour Authority as part of its efforts to inspire youngsters to engage with the river.
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