Ship wedged sideways between Sutton Bridge and Port of Wisbech blocks route to sea

  • Stuart Leithes reports for ITV News Anglia on the rescue operation to free the Baltic Arrow

A ship has been freed after it became stuck in a river bank, blocking a route to sea for ships using the Port of Wisbech.

Photographs show the 80 metre-long Baltic Arrow embedded into the river bank at both ends between the Port of Wisbech and Sutton Bridge on the Cambridgeshire border.

A successful operation to rescue the trapped vessel was carried out on Tuesday evening on the rising tide.

The boat is understood to be carrying a cargo of timber, and was sailing from Riga in Latvia.

Charlie Brittain was among those who went down to the river to see the Baltic Arrow after seeing images posted online.

The vessel is embedded in the bank at both ends, said onlookers. Credit: Charlie Brittain

He said: "It's low tide at the moment and it's parked almost sideways.

"The rudder is in the bank and the front end is buried in the bank on the other side.

"It's quite surreal, to go down there and see this absolutely massive ship. The photos don't really do it justice."

Mr Brittain, a 30-year-old tyre fitter from nearby Emneth, compared the situation to the Suez blockage in 2022, in which the cargo ship the Ever Given blocked the key route through which around 12% of global trade passed every day.

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