One dark and stormy night in Brighton
Fetched up on Brighton Beach one dark and stormy night in January 1980 and for the next few weeks became a noted tourist attraction pending her recovery for scrap at Rainham Essex.
Greek registered the 3500 ton Athina B was bound for Shoreham from the Azores with a load of Pumice Stone. She’d called in at La Rochelle with a slew of technical problems and then lost power and control while waiting for rough seas to abate off the Sussex Coast. The tug Meecham stood by but her assistance was refused, presumably for salavage claim fears but the situation worsened and the ship became a constructive loss.
The Shoreham life boat The Dorothy and Philip Constant ( still in existence as the Constance of Blakney a powerboat training vessel) and her crew performed heroic deeds in very rough conditions to rescue the two dozen or so crew. The Captains wife and two daughters were also saved as was a French girl travelling as a passenger.
Of the polyglot crew of 13 Greeks, 1 German, 1 Portuguese,1 Egyptian and 5 Indians questions were subsequently asked in the Mother of all Parliaments as three of the Indians were locked up in cells before being repatriated via Athens at the ship owners expense. The official line at the time was that the ‘Harmondsworth Three’ were not registered as regular seamen and so were prone to an increased risk of desertion and thence illegal immigration to the UK.
Although the Lord Privy Seal Sir Ian Gilmour stated that British relations with Greece are excellent concerns were also raised about the general standards of Greek Shipping companies and in particular maritime pollution risks. The Government further stated that once Greece became a full member of the EU all would be well.
The picture would have been even more dramatic if I'd got the horizon level........
One dark and stormy night in Brighton
Fetched up on Brighton Beach one dark and stormy night in January 1980 and for the next few weeks became a noted tourist attraction pending her recovery for scrap at Rainham Essex.
Greek registered the 3500 ton Athina B was bound for Shoreham from the Azores with a load of Pumice Stone. She’d called in at La Rochelle with a slew of technical problems and then lost power and control while waiting for rough seas to abate off the Sussex Coast. The tug Meecham stood by but her assistance was refused, presumably for salavage claim fears but the situation worsened and the ship became a constructive loss.
The Shoreham life boat The Dorothy and Philip Constant ( still in existence as the Constance of Blakney a powerboat training vessel) and her crew performed heroic deeds in very rough conditions to rescue the two dozen or so crew. The Captains wife and two daughters were also saved as was a French girl travelling as a passenger.
Of the polyglot crew of 13 Greeks, 1 German, 1 Portuguese,1 Egyptian and 5 Indians questions were subsequently asked in the Mother of all Parliaments as three of the Indians were locked up in cells before being repatriated via Athens at the ship owners expense. The official line at the time was that the ‘Harmondsworth Three’ were not registered as regular seamen and so were prone to an increased risk of desertion and thence illegal immigration to the UK.
Although the Lord Privy Seal Sir Ian Gilmour stated that British relations with Greece are excellent concerns were also raised about the general standards of Greek Shipping companies and in particular maritime pollution risks. The Government further stated that once Greece became a full member of the EU all would be well.
The picture would have been even more dramatic if I'd got the horizon level........