VIDEO: Schooner Eleonora E refloated in Spain following collision

Schooner Eleonora E, which was left half submerged in the port of Tarragona on 10 June 2022 after a maritime supply vessel collided with it, has been refloated.

Superyacht Eleonora E under tow

Documented in the footage below, the 60-metre offshore supply vessel had been manoeuvring in the port last June when it collided with the moored 49-metre sailing yacht Eleonora E. Nine crew, including the captain, were on board Eleonora E at the time of the accident, but no injuries were reported.

The complex salvage operation was carried out by Ardentia Marine. The operation lasted a total of three weeks, with more than 30 people helping in the operation. After the refloating, the sailboat was moved to the dry dock at the Serrallo wharf.

According to Tarragona Port, the refloating manoeuvre began three weeks ago with the inspection by divers of the state of the vessel to subsequently carry out the first repairs. Once these first tasks were carried out, a set of balloons were put in place, which, accompanied by two large cranes, straightened the yacht. Repairs then proceeded to the starboard side, where the impact occurred, while a specialist team continued temporary repairs underwater.

With the first repairs carried out, the team proceeded to raise the boat until the entire main deck was out of the water, to finally finish repairing the damage by pumping out the flooded compartments and thus recover buoyancy.

Eleonora E is a replica of a classic 1910 schooner, delivered in 2000 and built by Dutch firm Van der Graaf. She was last listed for sale at €6.9m.

Lead image courtesy of Twitter/@RataSentina.