A MERCHANT vessel had a near miss with moored boats in Teignmouth Harbour on Tuesday. The Bahamas-registered Celtic Fortune arrived in port at about 3pm. The frequent visitor had arrived to collect a cargo of clay before leaving for Plymouth on Wednesday. It was half-tide and initial reports suggest that it ran into difficulty coming around the Point. Pilots managed to guide the vessel into the channel and away from the moorings. Harbour commissioner Mark Layton said that initial reports suggest that no boats were damaged, though one may have run alongside the cargo ship in the incident. 'The vessel was under pilotage, and the pilot put the vessel into stern to pull it back out of the mooring area and then pushed the bow away from the moored boats. It is very rare for this to happen and this is the first in 2007.' The departure of the harbourmaster and his deputy has no bearing on the incident, said Mr Layton. 'The deputy harbourmaster would not be involved in these types of movements. The harbourmaster would deal with any investigation of such incidents but that will go to the chief executive, if necessary.'
