Why a stranded Dutch cargo ship crew is getting sweets from British locals

Independent

09-03-2025

A crew stuck on a beached cargo ship in the Humber estuary has been delivered vital food and water supplies - and will soon receive donations of sweets from concerned locals.
H&S Wisdom became lodged on a sandbank on 2 March after travelling from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, one day earlier - and it may not be able to move again until tides become high enough at the end of this month.
Further efforts by authorities to refloat the ship are likely to begin around 28 March, meaning it may not be until April before the crew are on their way again. The ship had become stuck while it was on its way to Gunness Wharf Port, near Scunthorpe.
'It's quite a few years now since a vessel went to ground in that area like this, a good 20 years,' Dave Roberts, chairman of Humber Rescue, told The Independent.
The vessel is loaded with steel, Mr Roberts said, and has around six people on board. Rescuers attempted three times to get the ship moving again but struggled due to the falling tides.
Mr Roberts, who has been a member of Humber Rescue for 35 years, explained: 'The tides have fallen off. When it went to ground, it was quite a big [high] tide, now the tides are reducing quite a lot, are dropping about two metres.'
H&S Wisdom, an 82-metre-long ship bearing the Netherlands flag, will not be able to move again until the next spring tide, when the water is at its highest, Mr Roberts said, adding that the only alternative way to move the ship would be to remove the ship's cargo onto barges using a crane.
This week, Humber Rescue made a fourth trip this week to deliver food and water supplies to the crew members onboard.
But the mood appeared positive on the ship despite being isolated on the sand bank. 'When the crew went the other day, the crew were quite happy to stay there, they were quite talkative when the crew went with the stores,' Mr Roberts said. 'I think they were quite glad to see the stores.'
After learning of the plight of the ship crew, local residents are stepping in to provide vital care packages as those onboard face weeks of not moving.
'We've been approached by some people to take some parcels out to them from donations. People want to take them sweets and stuff,' said Mr Roberts. 'We've had one email from a lady who said she's got some parcels.'
The Humber estuary, where the ship ran aground, has 'unpredictable' and 'shifting' sand banks which are monitored on a daily basis.