The crew of a tanker has British sailing media According to reports, the Norwegian-flagged "Kolibri" was discovered drifting 625 nautical miles south-east of Bermuda a few days ago. Nothing is yet known about the condition of the ship.
The four-man crew of the Swan 44, skippered by Guttorm Guttormsen, had allowed themselves to be rescued by a Portuguese coastguard helicopter called to their aid around 500 nautical miles south of the Azores at the beginning of May. There was the "Kolibri" as well as four other yachts got caught in a heavy storm. As a result, all the crews made distress calls, one of the ships even sank and a small child died of hypothermia shortly after being rescued from the water.
As the Portuguese navy had recorded the rescue operations on video, many sailors wondered shortly after the emergencies became known why the highly experienced Norwegian crew had voluntarily abandoned their apparently largely intact ship. The skipper was also able to explain the reasons for this in a report later published in the Norwegian media. Interview could not be named with certainty. The ship had capsized several times, water had got in and there was chaos on board, he said.
However, the Swan 44, which can be considered extremely seaworthy, was apparently not in danger of sinking - as her current reappearance proves. Whether Guttormsen will now salvage her was not known at the time.
Back in September, a yacht that had also been abandoned by its crew in the Atlantic was found again in the English Channel after drifting for ten months. At that time, the ship was unfortunately destroyed by the Irish Navy shortly after it was sighted. sunk although the German owner had wanted to salvage it.
Pascal Schürmann
Editor YACHT
