Salvors stop flooding on offshore wind support vessel Nautilus at Eemshaven
The Spanish-flagged OSV was taking water through the engine room and was evacuated; the leak was packed off by 23:00
A coordinated response prevented the Spanish-flagged offshore support vessel Nautilus from sinking at the quay in Eemshaven on the evening of Monday 5 October. The ship reported that she was taking on water as she returned to the Dutch port at around 18:30.
The regional emergency service, Veiligheidsregio Groningen, raised the incident to a level 1 emergency, reporting that the vessel was clearly sinking, with the forward section lying lower in the water, and was in danger of going down alongside. Police and fire services attended and the harbour master organised the response.
Built in 2001, Nautilus is a 73-metre offshore support vessel used in the offshore wind industry. Local authorities said water was entering through the engine room and suspected a leaking valve. They did not say how much water had entered or how fast.
The crew was ordered off the ship, and two crew members were checked by ambulance staff for minor injuries. Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch national waterways authority, placed an oil containment boom around the vessel as a precaution in case she sank at the pier.
Within an hour of the first report, an emergency team from a private salvage company was on board and two tugs had been positioned alongside to secure the ship. Unconfirmed reports said she had lost power, which complicated the work, but the salvors packed off the leak and stopped the ingress.
By 23:00 the harbour master reported that the flooding had been stopped, pumping was under way and the vessel was rising. The port authority planned a further investigation into the cause of the leak on Tuesday 6 October.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 7 October 2026.
