• Marine

Ardent-Subtech to the rescue

When one of the yachts competing in the Clipper Round the World race ran aground at the site of a nature reserve on Africa’s Cape Peninsula last October, a team from Ardent-Subtech was sent in to help clear up.

Once the 18 crew members had been safely evacuated by the local National Sea Rescue Institute, pollution control became the top priority and the rapid response contract was awarded to Ardent-Subtech.

The team’s debris removal job was complicated by the fact that the area (Cape Point Nature Reserve) is a protected wildlife sanctuary which means vehicles are not allowed on the beach under any circumstances.  As a consequence, all the salvage equipment had to be hand-carried to the site and all perishables (including sails) hand-carried off the beach too, before being loaded onto trucks and delivered to the Ardent-Subtech warehouse for the clipper team.

Clipper Race chairman and founder, Sir Robin Knox-John explained:

‘Once the assessment had been made that the vessel was not repairable, we needed to deal with the situation quickly with the priority of minimising environmental impact and returning the beach to its original state.’

Capt. William Moore, salvage manager at Subtech says:

‘The operation was a challenge as all the equipment had to be handled manually to and from the site with poor accessibility.

'However, the team really came together and we were able to remove all fuel from the wreck within 24 hours, ensuring that the surrounding nature reserve and wildlife were not impacted.’