Boat stuck in Sheffield's River Don this morning in echoes of Ever Given Suez Canal incident

The cargo vessel got stuck on the banks of the River Don near to Nursery Street in Sheffield city centre, after its captain took a wrong turn.

It was in the process of transporting a shipment of Lea and Perrins’ Worcestershire Sauce to Rotherham when it became wedged around 6.30am today.

The incident has prompted unwelcome echoes of the Ever Given, which was freed on Monday after being stuck diagonally across the Suez Canal for almost a week.

An eye witness came across the incident on the banks of the Don as he was walking his dog this morning.

He said: "I just couldn’t believe it, after the Ever Given was in the news all week, now we’ve got our very own shipping crisis in Sheffield!

"The captain seemed very irate as he tried to reverse the boat out, but it just didn’t work. I shouted: ‘you’re just making it worse, pal,’ but it didn’t seem to do much good.”

The boat’s captain is understood to have been safely taken to shore on a support vessel.

Salvage teams from a rescue organisation are currently on the scene.

A spokesperson for the organisation said tug boats and a digger had been dispatched to the scene to assist with rescue efforts, but warned it could take “hours, if not days” to free her.

They said: “We’re doing everything we can to refloat the vessel in difficult circumstances, but it’s really wedged in.

"It could days hours, if not days, to free her and get her back on course.”

The rescue operation to free the Ever Given got underway after it became stuck on Tuesday, March 23.

It took several days, and a fleet of tugs, using cables or placing themselves directly alongside the stricken vessel, finally succeeded in freeing her on Monday, March 29.

The obstruction caused a huge traffic jam on the Suez Canal, costing global trade an estimated £6billion to £10biillion every day.

Yes, you guessed it – this was an April Fool’s Day joke. We hope you enjoyed reading it!

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