Empty boat washed up on Worthing beach

Reader Jamie Stokes was on the beach at around 2am yesterday (Monday, May 26) to photograph the Michelle Mary, being pulled up the shingle.

Shoreham lifeboat crew went out to find the vessel, which was stolen from its mooring in Littlehampton, using both offshore and insure lifeboats.

The inshore lifeboat reached the boat first and the crew checked for any occupants.

No-one was aboard and there were signs the boat had been entered by force.

The boat was on the shingle, with the bow wedged against a wooden groyne.

The crew attached a line and managed to tow the vessel clear of the beach, while checking to see if she was taking any water.

The tow was then handed to the offshore lifeboat, which towed it back to Shoreham.

At the locks, the boat was re-united with its owner and the inshore lifeboat took her into the canal and moored her up awaiting inspection for damage.

Description

The Michelle Mary is a 30ft-long fishing vessel, worth about 120,000.

Witnesses at Littlehampton Harbour and on Worthing beach gave similar descriptions of a man seen onboard the boat.

He was in his early 20s, 5ft 10in, with short, brown hair and he was wearing a white top and black trousers.

He wasn't wearing any shoes.

Once he arrived in Worthing, he got off the boat and ran into the town centre.

Sergeant Peter Allan, of Littlehampton Police, said: "This wasn't like hot-wiring a Fiesta.

"The person who took the boat had to have known what they were doing.

"In my 18 years in the police service, I have never known anyone to have taken a boat like this just to get to Worthing."

The Michelle Mary's propellors were damaged due to it going up onto the beach.

A window was smashed, the door broken and the anchor was missing.

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