British rescuers have refloated a Russian ship with 18 sailors trapped on board after it dragged its anchor and grounded off the southwest coast of England. A lifeboat has been standing by for the beached crew.

A Russian cargo ship dragged its anchor in strong winds off the coast of the Falmouth, Cornwall on Tuesday, grounding the 180-meter (590-foot) vessel to within a few meters of the coast.

Dramatic footage posted on social media showed a rescuer from the local coastguard rescue team being lowered onto the huge ship during the operation to re-float it.

The MV Kuzma Minin had "dragged her anchor and grounded" between the Swanpool and Gyllyngvase beaches near the town of Falmouth, according to Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

The ship, which was stranded for around 10 hours, was not carrying any cargo and there were no reports of any pollution from the grounding. Tugs will be attached to the vessel and "the plan is to re-float the vessel," the coastguard said.

Unverified footage on social media on Tuesday afternoon purported to show the ship heading out into Falmouth Bay after being refloated.

kw/msh (AP, Reuters)

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