16-07-2025
Tall ship forced to abort departure from Whitehaven Harbour
A TALL ship was forced to abort its departure from Whitehaven Harbour in the early hours of this morning after getting into difficulty.
The Galeon Andalucia has been docked in Whitehaven since last Tuesday evening and has welcomed thousands of people on board.
The ship, which is a 17th century Spanish Galleon replica, was scheduled to leave the harbour in the early hours of Wednesday morning, after extending its visit by two days.
But the departure was abandoned after the ship experienced some issues with wind gusts. It is understood that some minor damage has been done to a pontoon.
The ship is now back on The Sugar Tongue and is expected to leave at 4pm today, if weather conditions are favourable. Its next stop is the Bristol Harbour Festival where it is scheduled to arrive by Thursday.
Gerard Richardson, deputy lieutenant, one of the organisers of the visit, said: 'Thankfully from initial reports no one was injured and to be honest after that everything else is detail.
'We don't have knowledge of the full extent of damage caused as yet but It's a reminder of the perils of the sea. Hats off to the ship's crew and the harbour team for managing the situation and getting the ship safely alongside again.'
Deanne Shallcross, CEO of Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners, said: 'My understanding is conditions do look favourable at 4pm. But often you're never really certain until a split second before. I'm sure there'll be careful assessments and further discussions ahead of that, though.'
The Galeon Andalucia attracted tens of thousands of people to Whitehaven Harbour over the weekend and organisers said the visit had brought 'significant economic benefit' to the town.
It was coordinated by deputy lieutenant Gerard Richardson in partnership with Sellafield, Amentum, Whitehaven Town Council, Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners and Marina Projects Whitehaven.
