Rescue tractor needs rescuing after bid to fetch boat back to its moorings ends with it 20 feet underwater
- A yellow Muirhill tractor used to rescue boats itself became stranded in the sea
- The tractor was submerged 20ft at high tide off off Abersoch, north Wales
- A large crater had formed in the seabed – left by a boat from a previous rescue
- Luckily, a 13-tonne digger was brought in to haul the tractor from the water
A tractor ordinarily used to recover stranded boats off the coast needed rescuing itself after it became submerged 20ft underwater at high tide.
The yellow Muirhill tractor ended up resembling a submarine after it fell into a crater on the seabed, left behind from a previous rescue mission.
The unusual blunder took place off the coast of Abersoch, north Wales.
Paddleboarders visited the wreck to see it stuck in the seabed before it was dubbed the ‘Yellow Submarine’.
Abersoch Boatyard Services said the tractor lurched into a deep hole as it fetched a boat back to its moorings.
The yellow Muirhill tractor ended up resembling a submarine after it fell into a crater on the seabed, off the coast of Abersoch, north Wales, left behind from a previous rescue mission
Abersoch Boatyard Services said the tractor lurched into a deep hole as it fetched a boat back to its moorings
A 13-tonne digger was later brought in to haul the stranded vehicle from the water – and amazingly started up again
A 13-tonne digger was later brought in to haul the stranded vehicle from the water – and amazingly started up again.
Owner Tim Long said it was soon back and running after the digger hauled it from the water.
He said: ‘In the 18 years we’ve been operating, this is the first time it’s happened to us. But these things happen.
‘The tractor was bringing a boat to the yard when it hit a big hole in the seabed.
‘These are caused by boats powering on to trailers, which leaves craters like holes in the sand. This one was clearly big enough to swallow a tractor.
Owner Tim Long (pictured) said the tractor was soon back and running after the digger hauled it from the water. He added: ‘In the 18 years we’ve been operating, this is the first time it’s happened to us. But these things happen’
‘The tractor was bringing a boat to the yard when it hit a big hole in the seabed. These are caused by boats powering on to trailers, which leaves craters like holes in the sand,’ said Mr Long
‘You can’t see the holes and there’s not much you can do about them. As it’s our first time, I’m not too sad about it – it’s not like the white Land Rovers from Cheshire that get stranded and are a little more prone to salt water damage.’
He added: ‘The engine was stopped long before water got in, and while we didn’t know what we would be faced with, our three guys quickly got it back running.
‘You can’t mess around with these sort of things, you’ve got to sort them as soon as possible as salt water will quickly eat into machinery.’
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