Wrecked yacht salvaged from Les Minquiers

Thursday 04 June 2020

A yacht that sank south of Les Minquiers on Sunday night after hitting rocks has been salvaged.

A team from Ports of Jersey worked with Jersey Oyster to bring the vessel, named Aruba, back to St. Helier’s New North Quay.

The vessel sank on Sunday after its mooring parted and it drifted onto rocks. 

The three people on board were then rescued thanks to the efforts of the JLA, the RNLI, Jersey Coastguard and the French Coastguard, who sent in a French Navy helicopter, after making their way ashore.

Pictured: A team from Ports of Jersey worked with Jersey Oyster to salvage Aruba.

After discussions with the vessel insurance company, a team from Ports of Jersey and Jersey Oyster mustered on Wednesday morning to attempt to salvage Aruba.

Jersey Oyster’s landing craft, Normandy Trader, which is owned by the Normandy Trader Freight & Charter Service and Ports of Jersey workboat's Halcyon were able to get close to the wrecked vessel.

They worked together to move Aruba from the rocks into a lagoon to allow a recovery attempt.

Once the yacht was in position and tide had fallen enough to expose the vessel’s rigging, lines were rigged, the mast removed, and the vessel pulled onboard the Normandy Trader.

Pictured: Aruba was pulled onboard the Normandy Trader.

A small amount of gearbox oil and diesel were lost during the recovery process, but the vessel's fuel tanks remained intact minimising any impact to the environment.

"This was a difficult and challenging task requiring the highest level of seamanship to complete successfully and it very likely if action hadn't been taken to remove the wreck it would have broken up over the next few days posing risk to both navigation and the environment," Captain Sadler said.

"I would also like to take this opportunity of thanking everyone involved in this salvage operation."