Wooden yacht sinks in the Ammersee - and nobody knows why

For Klaus Gattinger from Dießen it is a nightmare: his wooden yacht has sunk in the Ammersee. No one can explain how that happened.

Dießen - Klaus Gattinger initially thought of a bad joke. His ship, the “Sir Shackleton”, sunk in the Ammersee? “Can't be,” said the man from Dießen. But the sailing friend on the phone persisted: only the two masts of the 11.5 meter long boat would currently stick out of the water. The rest of the wooden yacht - flooded. Then Gattinger knew: the story was not a joke. His ship, the "Sir Shackleton", sunk in the Ammersee. "A nightmare."

It is unclear when exactly the two-masted ketch on which Gattinger and his business partner Christian Seelos have been offering event and seminar trips on the Ammersee since 2011 sank. The last time Gattinger was on deck was on Sunday evening. He received the call from the sailing friend on Tuesday morning. “It must have happened at some point during this period,” says Gattinger. The cause is still open. Neither the police nor Gattinger currently have any idea what might have happened.

What is certain is that the ten-ton "Sir Shackleton" is currently lying on its buoy off St. Alban at a depth of around seven meters on the bottom of the Ammersee. “A terrible sight,” emphasizes Gattinger. In the past two days he had no choice but to watch the emergency services of the Dießen water rescue service, the fire brigade and the police at work. For example, the fire brigade erected an oil barrier immediately after the alarm was received on Tuesday morning to prevent the leaking fuel from spreading in the water. Rescuing the ship is noticeably more difficult. The local water rescue service lacks air bags to hoist the ten-ton truck up. "We are not equipped for such cases," admits its technical director Thomas Forstner. A team of specialists from Austria should therefore take over the rescue. Tomorrow, Friday, is planned as the date.

How much does the insurance cover?

Until then, Klaus Gattinger and his business partner Christian Seelos have to wait. "I am very curious to see what condition our ship will be in when it comes to the surface," says Gattinger. The "Sir Shackleton", which he and Seelos bought ten years ago for 35,000 euros, is insured for salvage and water pollution, but it is not clear whether the insurance will cover 100 percent of all damage to the boat. The future of the ship will depend on how high the own contribution will ultimately be to bring the "Sir Shackleton" back into shape. "We are ready to invest money," Gattinger clarifies. "But if the sum is too high, that's it, unfortunately."

For both him and his partner Seelos, the event and seminar trips in summer are just a side income. “We are not existentially dependent on it.” However, her heart is not too tightly attached to her ship. Gattinger emphasizes: “At the moment we are shocked. But the dream of sailing across the Ammersee with the 'Sir Shackleton' is already here. "

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