Sunk deep

The barge that was now deep under water was a size too big for the men who were no longer surprised by anything. This really required Van Schie with a 300-ton mobile crane. The little ship weighed 45 tons and had to be sucked out of the mud. After salvaging it, it was transported on a flatbed trailer to Nederhorst den Berg for scrapping. A word about the term “superstition” in shipping. There are many variants of this. For example, putting a coin under the foot of the mast. That brings good luck. Don’t go whistling on deck, because you’ll challenge the wind and be in a flying storm in no time. If you slaughter a pig on board, always do so with its head facing south. And also important: never change the name of the ship. That brings bad luck. So if you paint “Ratteplan” on the bow as the ship’s name, such a barge will irrevocably go to the sharks and things will end badly for you. Although, the owner of this little ship had already left years ago.