River Canal Rescue recently came to the
aid of a boat owner undertaking a triple heart bypass whose 45ft narrow boat
Rosalie sunk three times on the Lancaster Canal.
Managing Director, Stephanie Horton,
explains: The first sinking in April was due to a rust hole in the water
tank. Having duly raised the craft we
inspected it, made it secure and moored it on the Lancaster Canal near bridge
35. As this was not an insurable claim,
the owner was advised the craft needed to be lifted out of the water for
repairs and he would be liable for the bill.
“Unbeknown to us, the owner had been ill and
was unable to pay the lift out costs for the vessel. Two months later, in June, it slid away from
its moorings and sank again, whilst the owner was in hospital. This meant that when the Canal & River
Trust tried to contact him, advising it was obstructing the pathway and removal
costs would be around £4k, they didn’t get any reply.
“The CRT has an obligation to clear the
waterways and keep them safe for other users, so the vessel was raised once
more. The contractor advised it had a hole in the hull and would need to be
lifted out. Sadly, before further action
could be taken, it sunk a third time, blocking navigation again.
“We contacted the owner’s carer and upon
learning of his predicament, realised he could not arrange the raising, lifting
out, transportation or disposal of the vessel, nor meet any of the costs
incurred to date. Having alerted the
CRT to the situation and with the owner’s permission, we raised and transported
the vessel to a local scrap merchant, absorbing the costs ourselves.
“Next step was to discuss with CRT the
‘writing off’ of their raising costs, due to the owner’s situation. This was agreed and we’re now waiting for a
scrap valuation. As these were
extenuating circumstances we’re happy to absorb the costs involved and delighted
the CRT was able to do the same.”
Ends
