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The Chieftain sank...


A £15,000 salvage operation has been launched to recover the wreck of a boat sunk in Poole Harbour.

Divers spent yesterday afternoon in waters near Poole Bridge assessing the wreck of the Channel Chieftain IV, which sank within minutes on Monday night.

Harbour Master Brian Murphy said the vessel’s solitary crew member – Lithuanian chief engineer Aleksandr Vlasov – had not been aboard when the boat went down.

“The crew member on board was our first concern. He was ashore, thankfully. The owner went back to Russia sometime in May.

“He has been contacted and has been told of the situation.

“We are making enquiries to see if they have insurance. It is unlikely, but we are enquiring. Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) will have to foot the bill, which is obviously mounting up at the moment.

“There is an unpaid mooring bill of about £5,000. The cost of raising the wreck will probably be in the region of £15,000,” said Mr Murphy.

The Channel Chieftain IV – a former tuna fishing vessel bought for £23,000 – arrived in Poole Harbour in April after getting into difficulties soon after leaving Weymouth.

The crew returned to Lithuania to raise cash for repairs, leaving Mr Vlasov to maintain and protect the vessel.

Jamie Roberts, 35, moved onto the boat in June after reading an article in the Daily Echo about Mr Vlasov’s solitary vigil, and saw it sink on Monday night: “I was walking along the quay and saw the front end listing.

"The metal chains they had attached to stop it being towed away were the only things holding it,” said Mr Roberts.

The former boat builder – who lived on the vessel for two months this summer – described it as a “death trap”.

Mr Murphy said charities including the Mission for Seafarers had been contacted by PHC staff concerned for Mr Vlasov’s welfare.

“One charity paid for a plane ticket for his repatriation, which he refused,” said Mr Murphy.

Comments(16)

dannyboy01 says...
8:35am Wed 18 Nov 09

I would often see mr Vlasov staggering about the quay in the evening with a bottle of whiskey in his hand 3 sheets to the wind, through the grape vine i was informed that he had also been donated a large amount of fuel for his vessel which he then phoned up an oil company to come and purchase it from himself thus giving him more money to buy drink. It seems mr Vlasov has been given handout after handout and he is lapping it up, the vessel has been an eyesore on the quay since may and never seemed to have any work done, it should of scrapped from day 1 far to much work to do fro someone who has no money.

magicmonkey says...
9:36am Wed 18 Nov 09

Hmmn no wonder Vlasov does not want a free plane ticket home.
What are his reasons for staying here now the boat is no more?

contric says...
10:30am Wed 18 Nov 09

perhaps he intends to swap the sunken boat for another form of transport the gravy train

kathywil says...
3:22pm Wed 18 Nov 09

obviously as the poor man is now homeless he will be given a nice little council flat?????

sheeder says...
4:52pm Wed 18 Nov 09

kathywil wrote:
obviously as the poor man is now homeless he will be given a nice little council flat?????
I have repoted this post

John T says...
5:05pm Wed 18 Nov 09

magicmonkey wrote:
Hmmn no wonder Vlasov does not want a free plane ticket home. What are his reasons for staying here now the boat is no more?
Perhaps he is hoping to sell the wreck to Poole Council for £3million, as the first natural reef at Poole Quay.
He really ought to know that Poole Council are in the business of giving Recs away, not buying them!

Avengerboy says...
5:16pm Wed 18 Nov 09

At what point do you become an illegal immigrant?

kathywil says...
6:27pm Wed 18 Nov 09

John T wrote:
magicmonkey wrote: Hmmn no wonder Vlasov does not want a free plane ticket home. What are his reasons for staying here now the boat is no more?
Perhaps he is hoping to sell the wreck to Poole Council for £3million, as the first natural reef at Poole Quay. He really ought to know that Poole Council are in the business of giving Recs away, not buying them!
sheeder. should you "repot" this one too.
i see no reason for you to go to the trouble of repoting my post , or even reporting it to spell the word properly. but if it makes you happy ???? feel free to report them all. as we are all saying the same thing

boardstiff says...
6:45pm Wed 18 Nov 09

John T wrote:
magicmonkey wrote:
Hmmn no wonder Vlasov does not want a free plane ticket home. What are his reasons for staying here now the boat is no more?
Perhaps he is hoping to sell the wreck to Poole Council for £3million, as the first natural reef at Poole Quay.
He really ought to know that Poole Council are in the business of giving Recs away, not buying them!
How can a man-made object, namely a boat, possibly be construed as a "natural" reef?

In any case, even a man-made reef could not work at Poole Quay because of the lack of effective tidal influence, let alone the obvious confusion and dangers arising from surfers mingling with craft awaiting the opening of the various bridges.

Are you seriously suggesting that any professionally-run Council would be so gullible as to buy-in to such a project...?

Password: cost-idea (amazing, ain't it?)

kathywil says...
7:23pm Wed 18 Nov 09

who finances vlasov? who pays for his food. i saw who paid for his whisky but who will pay the mooring fees? who will pay the boat salvage company? who will pay the costs of closing the road etc. it wont be mr vlasov i think.

sheeder says...
7:42pm Wed 18 Nov 09

I am not reporting anyone else - only you reason being;
no 1 lack of capital letter
no 2 absence of comma's
no 3 full stop nowhere to be seen
no 4 inappropriate use of ???
no 5 is there any council flats in Lithuania?
no 6 please note only 1 ? after Lithuania.
no 7 please note capitol l for Lithuania

sheeder says...
8:08pm Wed 18 Nov 09

kathywil wrote:
who finances vlasov? who pays for his food. i saw who paid for his whisky but who will pay the mooring fees? who will pay the boat salvage company? who will pay the costs of closing the road etc. it wont be mr vlasov i think.
John Mosco ??????

kathywil says...
10:36pm Wed 18 Nov 09

sheeder.
twaddle springs to mind regarding your answer.

Perry_Winkle says...
11:14pm Wed 18 Nov 09

sheeder wrote:
I am not reporting anyone else - only you reason being; no 1 lack of capital letter no 2 absence of comma's no 3 full stop nowhere to be seen no 4 inappropriate use of ??? no 5 is there any council flats in Lithuania? no 6 please note only 1 ? after Lithuania. no 7 please note capitol l for Lithuania
Note...
Unnecessary apostrophe in "comma's" - it's a plural, not a possessive.

Incorrect singular - should be "*are* there any council flats..."

Pants spelling - "capitol" instead of "capital"

Oh, and rubbish composition - "only you, reasons being..."

pd7 says...
8:24am Thu 19 Nov 09

He could of sunk it of Bournemouth to become a surf reef , he would have been a hero then !!

GJB_1 says...
1:39am Fri 20 Nov 09

When you have immigrated illegally.


SUBMERGED: Only the top of the wheelhouse of The Channel Chieftain IV can be seen after the fishing boat sank  at Poole Quay SAFE: Lithuanian sailor Aleksandr Vlasov

SUBMERGED: Only the top of the wheelhouse of The Channel Chieftain IV can be seen after the fishing boat sank at Poole Quay

SAFE: Lithuanian sailor Aleksandr Vlasov



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