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A yacht which sank in St Aubin's Bay after hitting the Ruaudière Buoy is being lifted from the sea bed with the help of a heavy tow barge from Belgium this week.
The 62ft motor yacht, which was on its way to Guernsey, collided with the buoy just before 18:00 on Friday 17 November – the same day the RNLI closed the St Helier station and withdrew the only all-weather lifeboat from the island.
The private vessel had almost completely submerged when the Fire Service's inshore rescue boat arrived. The two crew had managed to float a life-raft, and were picked up by the fire service. Neither was injured.
At the time, the Jersey Coastguard said that the yacht finally sank west of Noirmont where it had been towed, in 26 metres of water, just south of the main commercial passage - but it has since shifted in the tides and currents.
A 20-man rescue team, including 14 divers, and a 30m heavy life barge towed over from Antwerp in Belgium, have arrived in the island to recover the wreck.
Ports of Jersey have described it as a, “…complex and delicate operation, involving two teams of divers and major assets brought into the Island to assist with the recovery process. This includes a 200-tonne crane and decompression chamber on board the lift barge.”
A maritime and drone exclusion zone was be in force from 08:00 today, and the western approach will be closed to all commercial and leisure traffic during the recovery operation.
Pictured: The damaged Ruaudiere buoy being replaced.
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