Spirit of Cardiff has been disabled whilst approaching Valetta Harbour in Malta. The round the world powerboat was on its way in to finish the first leg of its round the world voyage from Gibraltar in darkness Tuesday evening when the boat ran into an uncharted and unlit fish farm.

The boat ran straight over the boom which encircles the fish farm, in the process pulling the outdrive away from the back of the boat. The crew tried to extricate themselves from the situation by fitting their spare outboard engine, but it didn't have sufficient power to drive the hull over the boom, which now encircled the Spirit.

Grand Harbour Marina, Spirit's Maltese hosts, came to the rescue with their launch to pull the boat free from the fish farm. The crew are all safe.

"It's disgusting", commented Spirit of Cardiff skipper Alan Priddy. "Our charts are up to date within the last three weeks, and the fish farms are not marked. They're a danger to shipping."

In the meantime, the crew are assessing the situation with a view to repairing the boat before they carry on. Air Malta have offered to fly a new outdrive out from the UK, which means that it may be possible to repair the boat and continue the round the world challenge in the next two days.

Clive Tully

Copyright Clive Tully ©2002
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