The pride and joy of the Algarve’s regional tourism board, the replica caravel Boa Esperança, is on a tour of duty in the northwest of Spain including a stop-off in the harbour of the city of Vigo whose harbour authorities are less than impressed with Portuguese seamanship.
The caravel was meant to stop once it reached Vigo harbour but failed to, suffering what the local newspaper politely called ‘an engine problem’ which causing the ship to plow into a metal walkway at full speed ahead.
The walkway ended up on the harbour floor and the captain in the harbour-master’s office to explain how the caravel had failed to stop.
The local ‘Faro de Vigo’ newspaper posting a video of the incident (see link below) which had been posted on Twitter by an unamused ports authority.
“The event occurred around 20:00 (October 20th) when the boat came in to dock at the quayside and suffered an engine failure,” reported the local rag.
The Boa Esperança "could not prevent its bow hitting the aluminum structure, which was dislodged in seconds."
According to the newspaper, "the dock's walkway later was recovered from the seabed by a crane and will be fixed back to the ground after suffering damage caused by the Portuguese caravel Boa Esperança."
Contacted by Sul Informação, Desidéio Silva, the president of the Algarve’s tourism board who has overall responsibility for the outward bound operation, played down the incident and said the walkway had soon been re-erected and that the caravel had no visible signs of damage.
