MV RMS Mulheim
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The '' RMS Mülheim'' was a German cargo ship that was built in Romania and launched in May 1999. It was wrecked on 22 March 2003 at
Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...
, United Kingdom.


Description

The ship was built by
Tulcea Tulcea (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 73,707 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city. Names The ...
Shipyard, Romania as yard number 246. She was ordered in December 1997, and the keel was laid in March 1998, before being launched in May 1999. The ship was 1,599 GT, 780 NT and 2,500 DWT. The ship was long overall ( between perpendiculars) with a beam of , a depth of , and a draught of . She had a hold capacity of and had a
container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
capacity of 130 TEU. The ship was powered by a Deutz SBV8M 628
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...
, which could propel her at .


History

The ship was originally named ''Zeus''. She was placed under the
flag of Antigua and Barbuda The national flag of Antigua and Barbuda was adopted on 27 February 1967 to mark the achievement of self-government. A competition to design the flag was held in which more than 600 local people entered. The winning design was put forth by nati ...
. She was owned by Kg CDL Leasing GmbH & Co Duisburg, Germany. By July 1999, she had been renamed ''RMS Mülheim'' and placed under the management of Rhein-Maas-und See Schiffahrtskontor (RMS). The
IMO Number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term covering two distinct meanings. The IMO ship identification number, is a type of hull number used as a unique ship identifier, and the IMO company and registered owne ...
9177870 was allocated and ''RMS Mülheim'' used the call sign V2AD1.


Loss

On 22 March 2003, ''RMS Mülheim'' was on a voyage from Cork, Republic of Ireland to
Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...
, Germany, transporting 2,200 tonnes of scrap car plastic. The ship ran aground at approximately 0500
GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...
in Gamper Bay, between
Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...
and
Sennen Cove Sennen Cove ( kw, Porthsenen) () is a small coastal village in the parish of Sennen in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the Penwith District Council, the population of this settlement was estimated at 180 persons in 2000. The ...
, during which time there was "moderate visibility and fog patches". On investigation, it was discovered that the chief officer—who had been on watch at the time—had caught his trousers in the lever of his chair when trying to get up, causing him to fall and rendering him unconscious. By the time he regained consciousness, ''RMS Mülheim'' was already bearing down on the shoreline. Although the Sennen
Lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...
and Land's End Coastguard Cliff Team were able to reach the wreck quickly, the six-man
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
crew of the vessel were airlifted to safety by a search and rescue helicopter from
RNAS Culdrose Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (RNAS Culdrose, also known as HMS ''Seahawk''; ICAO: EGDR) is a Royal Navy airbase near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall UK, and is one of the largest helicopter bases in Europe. Its main role is serv ...
. The members of the crew were treated for
shock Shock may refer to: Common uses Collective noun *Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names * Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves Healthcare * Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emergen ...
at the Sennen Cove Lifeboat Station. There was
diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
oil leaking into the ocean. The concerned agencies were informed, and a salvage operation was attempted. On 23 May 2003 ''RMS Mülheim'' was declared a
constructive total loss Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance is the sub-branch o ...
. The salvage work was provided by the leading company Wijsmuiler Salvage. To remove as much cargo as possible, a
conveyor A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transport of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow ...
belt system was used. When the weather and tide permitted, workers on the wreck filled jumbo-sized bags with the ship's cargo. Those bags were then brought up the cliff by the conveyor, which had been placed on the cliff just above the wreck. The operation ended on 29 May 2003. Although most of the cargo was removed, some was lost to the ocean. On 7 October 2003, in heavy seas, the ship broke into two pieces. On 31 October 2003, the swells pushed the wreck of the ''RMS Mülheim'' into a rocky inlet called Castle Zawn. At that time the wreck was demolished down to its superstructure.


Legacy

A year after the wreck,
Surfers Against Sewage Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) is a marine conservation charity working with communities to protect oceans, waves, beaches and marine life. It was created in 1990 by a group of Cornish surfers from the villages of St Agnes and Porthtowan on the nor ...
(SAS) reported that plastic and
foam Foams are materials formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid. A bath sponge and the head on a glass of beer are examples of foams. In most foams, the volume of gas is large, with thin films of liquid or solid separating the ...
from the wreckage was still washing up on Cornish beaches. By 2018, the wreck had been broken up by the strong swell around Land's End although some relatively intact sections of the wreck remain. File:R M S Mulheim wreck 448.jpg, Remains of the ''RMS Mülheim'' near Land's End in Cornwall, UK in 2010. File:R M S Mulheim wreck s1 (1 of 3) hug.jpg, Close up of remains of the ''RMS Mülheim'' near Lands End in Cornwall, UK in 2010. File:Mulheim wreck 2013.jpg, By 2013 nothing much remains of the ship except rusting stern bulkheads and sections of decking.


References


External links


Fall on dry cargo vessel RMS Mulheim resulting in grounding of vessel
report by UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch, published 23 January 2015, accessed 4 June 2018.
RMS Mulheim on Wrecksite
{{DEFAULTSORT:RMS Mulheim 1999 ships Ships built in Romania Cargo ships of Antigua and Barbuda Maritime incidents in 2003 History of Cornwall Cornish shipwrecks Wreck diving sites in the United Kingdom 2000s in Cornwall