CAPTAYANNIS

Lying on her side on a sandbank at the Tail of the Bank since January 1974, the wreck of the Greek cargo ship CAPTAYANNIS has become home to numerous seabirds, as can be seen here this afternoon. Laden with a full cargo of sugar from Portuguese East Africa, CAPTAYANNIS had arrived on the Clyde and proceeded to anchor while she awaited a berth in the James Watt Dock. While she lay there, a severe gale developed, and she began to drag anchor. Before she could get underway using her own power, she collided with the anchor cable of another ship, the BP tanker BRITISH LIGHT, and as a result was holed in her port side. CAPTAYANNIS began to fill with water and soon ended up listing badly. Her crew were taken off by small boats, including Munro's ROVER, and the ship, by now stuck fast aground on the sandbank, later rolled over onto her port side. A subsequent wrangle broke out between the ship's owners and other parties, and there she has remained to this day.