
The owners of a 52,000 ton cargo ship stricken off the Isle of Wight say it was deliberately grounded to prevent it from capsizing after it began listing as it left port.

The Hoegh Osaka, carrying 1,400 cars, some of which are thought to include Rolls Royces and Bentleys, became grounded on Bramble Bank in the Solent at 9.20pm on Saturday night, forcing emergency services to rescue all 25 crew members on board.

The incident prompted a major rescue operation with the crew members and a pilot having to be taken to safety by Coastguard helicopter and RNLI lifeboats with two people suffering non-life threatening.

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The vessel, carrying 1,400 cars, some of which are thought to include Rolls Royces and Bentleys, became grounded in the Solent

An aerial view of the ship, which its owners say was run deliberately grounded to prevent it from capsizing after it began listing

A tug boat remained on the water this morning as the coastguard helped to develop a plan for salvaging the stricken ship

During the rescue operation, the 51,000-tonne Singapore-registered ship listed at 45 degrees

Today salvage experts lost a race against time as they unsuccessfully tried to re-float the huge ship by using four tugs to pull it off the bank

All 25 crew members aboard the cargo ship (pictured this morning) were rescued overnight by helicopter and lifeboats

The Hoegh Osaka (pictured) is believed to have suffered a major mechanical failure when it became grounded on Bramble Bank last night

Crew members rescued from the listing ship are pictured as they arrive at the casualty centre set up in Southampton

All crew members (pictured) were successfully rescued from the ship last night with one believed to have broken a leg

The 180-metre Singapore-registered ship is currently listing at 52 degrees and the salvage operation is expected to take days, possibly weeks.

A 200 metre exclusion zone has been set up around the ship to prevent small vessels interfering with the tugs and other shipping.

Yesterday evening, Ingar Skiaker, the chief executive officer of Hoegh Autoliners, which own the vessel, said the ship was deliberately grounded after it started listing when it left the Port of Southampton, although the exact reasons of what caused the difficulties is still unknown.

He explained: 'Our vessel developed a severe list shortly after she left port and the pilot and the master took the decision to save the vessel and its crew by grounding her on the bank.

'This showed great skill and seamanship on behalf of our crew when faced with such challenging circumstances.

'At this stage it is too early to speculate on the cause of the list but we are starting an immediate investigation.

'Right now we have serious work ahead of us in order to free the vessel from the Bramble Bank without disrupting the flow of traffic in and out of the Port of Southampton. An investigation is ongoing as to what occurred last night and that is being conducted by the MAIB.

A salvage tug lights the hull of the stricken Hoegh Osaka cargo ship after it ran aground on a sand bank in the Solent in Cowes, England

A car ferry passes the stricken Hoegh Osaka cargo ship after it ran aground on a sand bank. All 25 crew members were rescued overnight

The cargo ship ran aground on Bramble Bank after leaving Southampton bound for Germany

'Our chief concern now is to ensure there is no environmental damage from this incident. There is no oil spill reported at this point however we understand that the UK authorities have brought their spill response to a state of active readiness.

'The vessel is currently considered stable, and we are closely working with our appointed salvors Svitzer, who in turn, are working alongside Hugh Shaw, the Secretary of State's Representative in Maritime Salvage and Intervention, as well as the Port of Southampton, to prepare for a safe and successful salvage of the vessel with minimal disruption to the port and it environment.'

The vessel was carrying luxury cars, thought to include Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, as well as up to 80 agricultural or building plant machines.

It has been estimated that the cost could run into tens of millions of pounds – and will soar further depending on the proportion of top-end cars.

A RNLI crew member shines a light on the deck of the badly listing ship during a daring rescue operation which lasted until 2am this morning

Members of RNLI pictured as they inspect the listing Hoegh Osaka late last night. Twenty-five people were eventually rescued

BMW Group said it was checking to see if Rolls-Royces and Minis were on board. Jaguar Land Rover, Honda and Bentley, which is owned by Volkswagen, all said they were also checking to see if they had cars on the ship

Earlier today an attempt to refloat the vessel failed, meaning it will remain stuck for at least another three days because the tides will not be high enough to re-float her.

Salvage experts lost a race against time as they unsuccessfully tried to re-float the huge ship by using four tugs to pull it off the sandbank.

Salvage specialist Svitzer has sent teams to the site and they are currently liaising with surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) who are on standby to assist with the operation.

It follows last night's daring helicopter-led rescue of the 25-strong crew, which was assisted by RNLI lifeboats from Yarmouth, Calshot and Cowes.

The Isle of Wight Red Funnel ferry is pictured passing the ship, which this morning remained stuck on a sandbank near Southampton

The massive container ship (pictured) was built in 2000 and has a maximum weight of almost 158,000 tonnes

This aerial view of the ship shows the huge undertaking facing rescue services as it remains grounded on the sandbank

The Hoegh Osaka pictured last night as it is surrounded by rescue boats while listing at a 45 degree angle

The last of the 25 crew members were rescued from the water and the boat's deck about 2am this morning

An emergency rescue boat, pictured to the right, is dwarfed by the huge ship which was left stranded on the sandbank

The Hoegh Osaka, pictured, ran aground less than an hour after it left Southampton at 8.20pm last night

A statement from the MCA added: 'The crew who were on board the car carrier Hoegh Osaka have all now been accounted for. Some were airlifted off the ship by coastguard helicopter and others were rescued from the sea by the three lifeboats that were on scene.'

'The vessel's owners have appointed the salvage company Svitzer and a salvage team is on its way to the scene today to make an initial assessment.

'Salvage plans will be developed by Svitzer and reviewed by the Secretary of State's Representative for Maritime Salvage & Intervention, (SOSREP). There is no impact on vessels transiting the Solent as the vessel is not within a shipping channel.'

National Maritime Operations Centre commander Steve Carson said: 'All of the crew have been accounted for and other then a couple of non life-threatening injuries, everyone is safe and well.'

A Yarmouth RNLI crew member was winched aboard the ship to help pull up casualties who were trapped on board.

The RNLI and the Coastguard managed to rescue the 25 crew from the stricken vessel last night

The Hoegh Osaka from Singapore was on its way to Bremerhaven in Germany when it ran aground

The coast guard helicopter hovered above the stricken vessel as it plucked the crew from the listing deck

Infrared images taken by the National Police Air Service last night show rescue ships (left) and a helicopter (right) during the rescue operation

Tom Pedersen, volunteer Calshot RNLI helmsman, said: 'This is not the sort of call-out you expect on a Saturday evening but we had a brilliant response from the RNLI volunteer crews and all the other agencies involved, resulting in the successful rescue of all the ship's crew.

'Fortunately, the rescue helicopters managed to winch most of the crew to safety in quite challenging conditions, while two people were rescued by the Calshot RNLI lifeboats. One of them leaped around 8 metres from the ship into the water and was picked up immediately by our inshore lifeboat. The other was rescued from the bow of the ship.'

The vessel this morning remained listing badly to one side after what was believed to have been a major failure of its navigation system. Crew members on board the ship told rescuers it was not taking on any water.

The ship was heading to the German port of Bremerhaven at the time of the incident.

The vessel was built in 2000 and weighs 52,000 tonnes. It is understood the cargo ship, which has a nine-metre draught, turned sharply to the left as it passed the notorious Bramble Bank sandbank near Cowes and ran aground.

According to www.marinetraffic.com the vessel left Southampton and made a sharp left turn and run aground

The 180-metre long Singapore registered car transporter was en-route to Bremerhaven in Germany

Bramble Bank is a well-known sandbank in Southampton Water and is the scene of an annual cricket match between two yachting clubs when the sands are exposed in low spring tides.

In November 2008, the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2 with 1,700 passengers on board ran aground on Bramble Bank but was able to continue its journey on the rising tide after four tugs pulled it clear.

The stricken carrier has become a tourist attraction with car parks along the coast filling up with people wishing to view it.

Hampshire police posted advice to motorists on Facebook warning them that the area had become 'extremely busy'.

They said: 'Good morning all, just a piece of friendly advice ... car parks along the coast by Calshot are extremely busy. This is due to people being interested in seeing the car transporter ship which has run aground.

'We're monitoring the traffic situation around all 'vantage points' and just wanted to make you aware.'

Police have warned car parks along the coast by Calshot are extremely busy after hundreds of people flooded the area to catch a glimpse of the stranded ship (pictured)