Runaway barge Selby Michael from Hazelford creates £20,000 damage at Farndon Marina after it drifted downriver
A runaway barge has been safely returned home after drifting off and causing thousands of pounds of damage.
The £20,000 injury to pontoons was caused at Farndon Marina after the Selby Michael went adrift from Hazelford lock on Sunday night.
Paul Ainsworth, managing director of Farndon Marina, said the boat was known to the area, and believed it broke adrift or was maliciously cut.
“At about 6 o’clock on Sunday evening, the barge drifted downriver and was spotted at Fiskerton where it caused more damage,” said Paul.
“It has severely broken and twisted the pontoons and the floats underneath, it will cost £20,000 to replace.”
Managing director at Newark Marina, James Wilkinson, said he discovered the barge in Newark later that night and tied it to a tree.
“It was a ghost ship,” he said. “That’s what is looked like approaching it at night.
“The barge is about 104ft long and before the water was pumped out of it, I think it would have weighed around 150 tonnes.
"If it had come into Newark Marina it would have caused incredible damage.
"After tying it to a tree, we left it to the authorities, but nothing happened until 3pm the next day."
The runaway was towed back to Hazelford by the Canal River Trust’s Maid Marian tug and Newark Marina’s Friar Tuck.
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