Wangerooge
Photo: Ingo Wagner / dpa
More than a hundred children had to have a lot of patience on an excursion ship on the North Sea: the ship ran aground on Thursday afternoon between the East Frisian islands of Wangerooge and Spiekeroog.
Only after four and a half hours were sea rescuers able to tow the ship free, as the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked Persons (DGzRS) announced.
Accordingly, the captain noticed around 3 p.m. that the ship was stuck with a total of 137 people on board and the crew could not free it on their own.
According to the information, the sea rescue boat "Fritz Thieme" arrived shortly after the emergency call.
However, it was not able to free the excursion ship immediately because it was stuck on a sandbank in the Wadden Sea in Lower Saxony.
Only four and a half hours later – when the water level was higher thanks to the tide – did the rescue workers manage to tow the ship free after several attempts.
The passengers stayed on board for so long because there was no danger to them in calm seas, according to the DGzRS.
The ship was then able to continue its voyage under its own power.
wit/dpa