Update: Abandoned Bulk Carrier Julietta D Arrives in Port, Ending Frantic Rescue

The bulk carrier Julietta D was towed into port Tuesday after a wild 24 hours off the Dutch coast.

The ship ran into trouble Monday during heavy weather from “Storm Corrie.” The Julietta D was anchored off the coast of IJmuiden, Netherlands when it broke its anchor chain, collided with a tanker, and started to drift.

The collision caused damage to the bulk carrier and it began taking on water, leading to a daring heavy weather evacuation by helicopter of the all 18 crew members, part of which can be seen in the video below:

It then began drifting towards shore, in the vicinity of the Hollandse Kust Zuid, and at one point colliding with an offshore platform foundation.

From there it was a race to save the ship from running ashore.

The effort was led by the Dutch Coast Guard with tug and salvage assistance from Boskalis’ SMIT Salvage, The Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution and air assistance from Belgian Coast Guard.

You can see the conditions in the video below:

De lierbedienaar van de SAR-helikopter @NhvHelicopters maakte deze beelden van de evacuatie. Alle 18 bemanningsleden van het vrachtschip zijn door 3 helikopters van boord gehaald (inclusief één heli van de Belgische Kustwacht @agentschapMDK). #kustwacht #nhv pic.twitter.com/3o9z3CXzki

— Kustwacht Nederland (@Kustwacht_nl) February 1, 2022

Boskalis described its work in a statement:

The Sovereign, a large Boskalis tug, arrived on the scene yesterday at around 16:00 hours CET, followed soon afterwards by four salvors from Boskalis’ salvage division, SMIT Salvage, who were airlifted onto the Julietta D by helicopter.

At around 18:30 hours the first successful towing connection was made, preventing the vessel from running aground on the Dutch coast. The Julietta D was then pulled further out to sea as a precaution, waiting for an additional tug.

At around 19:00 hours, the tug Multratug 18 of partner Multraship also made a towing connection, but due to the very rough conditions this connection unfortunately had to be severed.

Today at around 01:00 hours the Manta, a second large Boskalis tug, loaded with salvage equipment and an additional team of salvors was on site, after which a second towing connection was successfully made after sunrise. This secured the Julietta D and the vessel is currently being towed to the port of Rotterdam where it is expected to arrive early in the afternoon.

The Julietta D has now arrived at the Port of Rotterdam with the assistance of the tugs Sovereign, Multratug 18 and Manta, the Dutch Coast Guard said, ending the response.

The AIS track below, from MarineTraffic.com, shows just how close the ship came to the coast before the tugs intervened:

Damage to the Juliette D can be seen in the pictures below: