Cornwall in Focus News

Shipwreck !

Published 24 Aug 08 11:25

Zone Point, near Falmouth, has recently claimed another vessel. The headland, lying just to the east of St. Anthony Head in South Cornwall, was the scene of an unusual maritime accident yesterday.

The coast of Cornwall has claimed many hundreds of shipwrecks over the years as many apparently scenic bays and coves conceal rocks just below the surface. The greatest concentration of shipping lost on the Cornish mainland is around the Manacle Rocks, a mile off the east coast of the Lizard Peninsula. These rocks, also known as the Church Rocks, or Maen Eglos in Cornish, lie semi-submerged and have claimed several hundreds of lives.

Shipwrecks nowadays are less common but are by no means unheard of; ask the skippers of the Cita (1997), the Kodima (2002) or the Mulheim (2003).

Yesterday's accident involved a deisel-powered motoryacht worth 270,000 Euros (£200,000). The Sealine 37 hit hidden rocks in 15 feet of water on its' way to new owners in Ireland. The fibreglass hull fractured with the 16 knot impact and rapidly filled with water and sank.

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