Stuck ship refloated on high tide

The Manaav Star was turned to face the sea overnight

A 2,000-tonne ship which ran aground on a beach in Sussex earlier this month was refloated on Monday.

The Indian-registered Maanav Star was pulled away by a tug as the tide rose. She was due to leave Rye on 11 September but got stuck at Camber.

Several unsuccessful attempts were made to refloat her in the following week, but the tides were not high enough to send her out to sea.

The damaged ship is being taken to Holland where repairs will be made.

Turned around

Andy Roberts, spokesman for the Coastguard and Maritime Agency, said: "We were confident she was going to go in these three days.

"I was a little bit surprised that she went on the first effort because we had two more higher tides to go.

"It was a nice warm feeling to see her leave the beach."

After the ship was pulled away by a Dutch tug, diggers moved in to clear up the hole she made in the beach.

Overnight, the ship had been turned to face the sea and on Monday began to move as a tug towed her away.

'Anchor dragged'

She had been delivering a cargo of green timber to Rye and been due to leave with new owners and a new crew.

An inquiry is under way into how the ship ran aground.

It is thought that the Maanav Star became stuck on the beach at about 2200 BST on 11 September after her anchor dragged and she was blown inshore by high winds.

Unsuccessful attempts at sending the Maanav Star back out to sea were made on 13, 16, 17 and 18 September.