The 27-meter M/Y Neeveen ran aground on February 9 on the shore of Carchuna Beach in Motril, Spain, according to Euro Weekly News. The crew were allegedly taking the vessel from Marbella to Aguadulce when an engine room failure caused them to divert to the coast, and after suffering damage, she ran aground on the beach, supposedly “trapping” her crew for five hours.
Thanks to the efforts of firefighters and members of the Maritime Rescue, National Police, and Guardia Civil Maritime Service, the crew were freed.
On February 11, Salvamento Maritimo began to decontaminate the vessel and extract 6,500 liters of fuel to avoid environmental risks. Other solid contaminants were removed on February 14 and 15.
Tug boat SAR Mastelero managed to pull Neeveen off the beach with the help of 18 shore-based workers, 10 aboard the salvage ship, and four crewmembers of SAR vessel Salvamar Gineah on February 18. They managed to pull the yacht toward deeper water where she gradually gained buoyancy, local media Ideal reports.
They towed her to the port of Motril, which took about two hours, where she was dry docked to assess the damage and figure out whether she will be put up for auction or scrapped. Neither the owner nor the insurance company have come forward to pay for salvage operations, SUR in English reports.