Double Trouble for the Historic Elbe

A massive project to completely restore the ocean going tug Elbe to its original 1959 condition suffered a serious blow for the second time this year. Back in July the tug was struck and sunk at her Rotterdam moorings by a ship manoeuvring at an adjacent berth. The vessel was refloated and repairs to the hull had been completed when on 27 October the tug inexplicably sank at the Wartsila yard at Schiedam where the Smit-MAN main engines were being overhauled. By that stage much of the ships machinery had been completely overhauled and work was progressing on the renewal of electric cabling.