As the first one has proved surprisingly popular, here's a second post about a cargo vessel being grounded in the River Nene.
Back in 2000, reports Lincolnshire Live, a ship named the Lagik, carrying a cargo of 2250 tonnes of steel products, attempted to berth at Sutton Bridge, a few miles downstream of Wisbech, with severe consequences:
The 92 metre-long German-owned cargo ship entered the swinging basin at the port to be swung before it could berth, but within seconds it began to ground following "inappropriate manoeuvring."
It's bow ... grounded at a distance from the opposite bank equal to the ship's length and once a tide caught the ship's stern ... it was effectively 'wedged' in position.
Later that same day (December 13, 2000), a combination of the weight of its cargo and the falling tide caused the ship to break its back and settle further into the river with each tide.
The Lagik blocked the River Nene ... and this led to closure of Wisbech port in Cambridgeshire for 44 days.
The Lagik could not be recovered whole, and was cut in three pieces where she lay by salvage experts. The only good news is that they managed to prevent serious pollution of the river.
A swinging basin appears to be a harbour's equivalent of a winding hole on the canals and allows a ship to be turned in little more than its own length.
I captured the mouth of this swinging basin on my visit to Sutton Bridge in 2009 - you can see it in the photograph below.
If you think the Nene is a narrow river to have inland ports like Sutton Bridge and Wisbech, you may be surprised to know that ships used to dock even further upstream.
The Victoria County History for Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely says:
As recently as 1938 a sea-going vessel, the Constance H, sailed as far as Peterborough, clearing Guyhirn Bridge by 1 inch. In 1951 some sea-going barges, laden with corn, sailed from the Thames to Peterborough.
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