In Sharpness Dock lock
Arriving from Kherson with a cargo of grain. She departed 28/05/2020 for Bordeaux.
L x 101m
B x 17m
Built 1996 by ENVC, Viana do Castelo, Portugal
ISM Manager, Pasa International Technical, Gaziantep, Turkey

F. Arslan V broke down off Lavernock Point in the Bristol Channel on the night of June 6th, 2017 while en route from Cardiff to Avonmouth. It tried to anchor off Lavernock Point in high winds and heavy seas, during which her two anchors tangled together, rendering them unusable.
Two local tugs were called to tow the vessel back to port but first had to free the fouled anchors. The vessel by now was close to a reef of underwater rocks. The Bristol Channel pilot on board and the tug skippers advised the ship’s captain to sacrifice the anchors and cut them free, but the captain decided that he needed to radio the shipowners for permission.
Eventually the tugs managed to tow the container ship away from the rocky outcrop and out towards Flatholm Island. Finally it was agreed that both anchor chains would have to be cut, released into the sea and abandoned, in order to enable the ship to be towed back into port. The ship’s crew eventually cut through both anchor chains and allowed them to run out into the sea.
The tugs now faced strong NW winds and were against the tide stream, causing the ship to be swept back towards Lavernock Point. The tugs attempted to turn the vessel towards Cardiff, against the tide and the strong wind, but one of the tow lines snapped. There were then problems in getting another line passed from the ship to the tugs. With the tide falling rapidly and the northerly winds pushing the ship down channel back towards Lavernock Point and the Wolves Rocks, Milford Haven Coastguard declared an emergency and alerted local lifeboats. Eventually the stricken ship was moved to Cardiff Roads off Penarth – with the prospect of the tugs motoring all night to keep her in position until the next tide allowed her to be brought back into Cardiff Docks. A third tug was called in from Newport. The Barry Dock lifeboat remained on standby as night fell on June 6th. On June 7th at 04:00 F. Arslan V finally docked in Cardiff.