The two survived the incident and the forklift driver also escaped mercifully. But things didn’t look good for the 7.5 meter long polyester boat and the 6000 kilo forklift truck. They were half under water.
Help did not arrive until late afternoon. The Zijlsing company in Jutrijp used heavy equipment that had to come from Burgum. Pusher Brutus, a powerhouse that still served in the port of Rotterdam, pushed a 7 meter long pontoon with a heavy crane on top to the scene of the disaster, while the small pusher Ursus helped to maneuver.
Fiddling with the spud poles
The salvage work took quite some time. Initially, the Zijsling men did not manage to pass the Vrouwenpoort bridge because the bridge flap cannot be raised vertically. The sloping flap was in danger of being hit by one of the two meter-high spud poles (poles with which a pontoon anchors itself).
It took the salvage companies at least an hour to knock down one of the piles, after which the small convoy was able to pass through the bridge.
From the shore, in the Prinsentuin and along the Harlingersingel, a growing crowd of curious people followed the salvage work. Dozens with ice cream in one hand, iPhone in the other.
Around nine o’clock we managed to attach lifting straps from a small rowing boat to the red forklift truck and hoist it, dripping heavily, out of the water.
A low-loader was ready at the Boterhoek to remove the forklift. The owner from Heerenveen, who had sublet it, could not estimate whether the transport equipment can be used again. To the eye there was little broken, except for a twisted axle.
The salvagers again had a long job with the badly damaged boat. It will be delivered to a shipyard in Burgum.