MV RMS Mulheim

RMS Mulheim three months after running aground off Land 's End

• Zeus

The RMS Mülheim was built in the Romanian Tulcea coaster, which was by the shipping company Rhine, Meuse and sea Schiffahrtskontor (RMS) operated in Duisburg. The keel of the ship took place in February 1998, the launching in May 1999. The ship sailed under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, the crew came from Poland.

The propulsion of the ship was built by a diesel mechanic with Deutz MWM Motoren-Werke Mannheim eight-cylinder four -stroke marine diesel engine with a power of 1,500 kW, who worked on a propeller through a reduction gear. It also featured the ship has a bow thruster.

To drive even on rivers, were superstructure and bridge, which could be hydraulically adjusted in height, kept low. Much of the accommodation of the crew and additional rooms were located below deck.

Running aground

On the trip from Cork in Ireland to Lubeck, loaded with more than 2,200 tons of plastic shredder waste from automobiles, got the ship on 22 March 2003 before Land's End in Cornwall in distress and was driven in heavy seas on the cliffs near the village of Sennen. When you run onto the rocky coast of the ship's bottom was destroyed. The ship was declared two days later to a total loss. The six -member crew was abgeborgen by a Culdrose helicopter stationed in the Royal Navy.

After the accident, a 500 -meter-long oil slick from the leaking diesel fuel, which was driven to the nearby Gamper Bay was formed. Part of the plastic waste was recovered within the next few months, initially with the help of a conveyor system of the country, later with the help of a crane island in barges from the fuselage. Other parts were rinsed from the heavily damaged hull out and collected at the nearby beach of Sennen with excavators. The waste represents a potential threat to animals living here as gulls and dolphins because the animals swallow the parts and can it perish. The wreck itself was not recovered, so as not to harm the environment further.

Thanks to the proximity of the wreck to the coast many onlookers were attracted applied for the extra Behelfsparkplätze on fields near and signs were erected to the scene.

On 7 October 2003, the fuselage broke in two. The tail was eventually transported by the waves in a canyon on the steep wall on the beach.