PSP outruns pirates on Dubai delivery
Frank Dixie: ‘a nail-biting experience’
DELIVERY: Boat transport firm PSP had to evade trouble in the waters around Egypt – including a pirate attack - to get a 30m Sunseeker to the Dubai International Boat Show in time for the March 1 opening.
PSP’s boat transporters loaded the boat in Antwerp on January 26, ready for a calm sailing to the port of Jebel Ali. But when the vessel reached the Suez Canal in Egypt it was clear that it wasn’t going to be as straightforward as originally planned.
The civil unrest meant the canal had been closed and there was a heavy backlog of vessels waiting to get through, which put two days on the Sunseeker’s transit time. In addition, the cargo vessel had to use the dangerous waters near the coast of Oman, where attacks by pirates are commonplace.
The cargo vessel had to join a military convoy and travel through the danger zone at 6kts - the speed of the slowest vessel - which took up more valuable time. Then, as the PSP cargo vessel left the convoy it was surrounded by Somali pirates brandishing guns and firing bullets into the air.
PSP had security on board to guard the Sunseeker, but took no chances and the captain was ordered to increase speed and outrun the pirates. The captain later reported the pirates chose to board the vessel behind.
With time ticking away the scheduled refuelling in Fujairah was abandoned and the vessel headed straight on to Dubai. It meant a more costly fuel bill in Dubai but PSP took the hit to get the boat to the show on time.
The Sunseeker was lifted into the water in Jebel Ali and was run to the show site at the Dubai International Marine Club in Mina Seyahi. There was, says PSP, just time for the boat to be polished up before the show opening the following morning.
‘It was a nail-biting experience, to say the least,’ said PSP MD Frank Dixie. ‘But getting the boat to the show on time was our top priority and we weren’t going to let anything get in our way, especially as this was our first dealing with Sunseeker in Dubai. It was vital we got their prize yacht there safely and on time.’
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