Challenge of the Sea

Much more dramatic pictures than mine of this ship have been commanding the headlines all through January. Nevertheless today’s Blipfoto is a poignant reminder of our relationship with the sea.
The 590 ft long car carrying ship was beached on the Bramble Bank off the Isle of Wight after developing a severe list soon after leaving the port of Southampton in early January, bound for Bremerhaven.
Now safely back in the port after a mammoth operation by marine salvage experts, the valuable cargo of expensive cars and construction equipment appears to have largely been unloaded and the cars now parked in a compound next to the ship present a sorry picture when you try to take in that according to reports they could be destined for scrap.
The Brambles Bank itself is sandbar in mid Solent at the entrance to Southampton Water which in normal circumstances presents a navigational hazard to ships entering and leaving Southampton Water. But it becomes exposed at low water spring tides when it becomes the scene for an annual cricket match between the Island Sailing Club and the Royal Southern Yacht Club.
Water tends to lap around the players’ feet for much of the short time they can play before the tide turns, but the event is firmly in the social calendar for both yacht clubs.

On a more serious note, marine experts continue their investigation into what caused the severe list which led the ship to being beached to prevent the possibility of it capsizing. And just as it was a tourist attraction while beached, it is still attracting photographers’ attention while berthed in Southampton Docks, adjacent to the city’s waterfront Mayflower Park.