Luxury motor yacht “Elsa” stranded at Ladder Bay. (Saba News photo)
SABA--Since last Thursday, the owners of the luxury motor yacht Elsa, which ran aground at Ladder Bay on Wednesday evening, March 22, have been working on a plan to salvage the yacht with minimal damages to the surrounding environment and the vessel.
The operation is carried out in cooperation with the Public Entity Saba and Saba Conservation Foundation, Saba Government Information Service, SGIS said Monday.
On Monday, personnel and equipment arrived to begin work on the salvage today, Tuesday. First priority will be to safely remove the fuel from the vessel, followed by the extraction of the yacht from the shore. Several experts are on Saba to give advice on the technical and logistical aspects of the salvage.
The Public Entity Saba cautions that persons without express written permission are not allowed to board the vessel Elsa or to remove anything from the yacht. The yacht is being monitored and trespassers will be caught, it was stated. The public will be updated about the progress of the salvage operation. All passengers and crew on board Elsa were safely transported to the harbour and nobody got injured, SGIS said.
Elsa is a 48 metre luxury motor yacht built in 2004. With a beam of 8.2 metres and a draft of 2.8 metres, she has a steel hull and steel/aluminium superstructure. This adds up to a gross tonnage of 353 tons. She is powered by Cummins engines of 600 horsepower each giving her a maximum speed of 13 knots and a cruising speed of 10.5 knots. The motor yacht can accommodate 10 guests in five cabins.
This is the second time a vessel ran ashore at Ladder Bay during this year’s yachting season. On March 17, a French sailing yacht drifted off its mooring and stranded on the rocks at Ladder Bay. The crew, a family of five with three small children, spent the night ashore. No one got hurt in the accident, according to Saba News.
