After two weeks of effort, a Dutch short-sea cargo ship that had been stranded at the Humber Estuary in the UK was finally floated. Officials had previously feared that the ship could remain stuck until the April high tides.

The H&S Wisdom (1,850 deadweight tons) ran aground on March 2 while en route from Rotterdam, carrying steel. Shortly after the vessel ran aground, several attempts were made to refloat it, but all were abandoned due to the ship being firmly stuck in the estuary.

The crew remained on board for two weeks, with supplies being delivered from the shore. Meanwhile, two barges were moored near the ship, one of which was equipped with a crane, to begin unloading some of the cargo to prepare for the refloating operation.

According to reports from the Humber rescue team volunteers, they had been on standby aboard the ship last week, assisting with the operation.

Finally, on Saturday, March 15, with the arrival of the tide, and with the help of a tugboat, the ship was successfully refloated and returned to the navigable channel. The 82-meter (269-foot) cargo ship, built in 2002 and registered in the Netherlands, was escorted by the tugboat to a nearby dock for further inspection.