The first incident took place a few days ago in Croatia, near Split in the port of Giričić. There, a CCTV camera captured a scene that would make any skipper’s blood run cold. According to various Croatian media reports, a charter crew apparently intended to head for the marina’s refuelling jetty.
The Czech skipper, Vladimír Lambl, described the sequence of events to Morski.hr: as he approached the petrol station, he first put the engine into neutral and then into reverse. However, instead of slowing the vessel down in this way, the gearbox apparently got stuck in forward gear and the engine went into full throttle. Neither the gear lever nor the throttle would respond.
Suddenly, the gearbox and accelerator pedal fail
The Salona 46 reportedly spun out of control within seconds. In the narrow harbour channel, Lambl had to react in a flash. The video shows him steering the yacht, which was hurtling towards a fully occupied jetty, sharply to port at the last moment. In doing so, he managed to thread the rudder blade into the mooring line of a boat tied up at the jetty.
Thanks to this daring manoeuvre, the Salona came to an abrupt halt. The crew escaped with a fright, and the damage to the yacht appears to be limited. According to reports, only the Salona’s rudder blade was damaged and the keel sustained a few scratches. As for the boat moored at the jetty, only its mooring lines were torn. Had the manoeuvre not been successful and had the Salona crashed into the other yachts at full speed, the damage would likely have been considerable.
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A courageous operation by the US Coast Guard
Similarly, the wild ride of a motorboat that had suddenly lost its driver ended without serious incident. In Maryland, the crew of a US Coast Guard vessel chased after the boat for several minutes; its driver had apparently fallen overboard moments earlier. There was apparently no automatic safety stop mechanism for the engines designed for such an eventuality. The boat circled near the shore at considerable speed.
With a great deal of patience and skill, the helmsman of the coastguard boat finally managed to manoeuvre alongside the unmanned boat. Another crew member bravely climbed over and then slowed the boat down. It is nothing short of a miracle that no one was injured in the incident. The entire dramatic situation can be seen in a YouTube video.
Pascal Schürmann
Editor YACHT
