Cargo ship runs aground in harbour

A cargo ship has run aground off the south Devon coast.

The coastguard said it received reports of the vessel - its name Scot Pioneer visible from the shore - had got into difficulty in Teignmouth harbour at about 17:25 GMT.

It added the ship, registered to Inverness in Scotland, had eight crew on board and no injuries or damage to the vessel had been reported.

A coastguard spokesperson said it was expected the boat would be refloated at the next high tide at about 02:00 on New Year's Day with a harbour tug being sent to assist the vessel get to the dock.

Eyewitnesses said the ship appeared to have got stuck on the seabed about 50m (164ft) away from Shaldon beach.

A marine traffic website said the ship had last docked in Hamburg before leaving the German port on Boxing Day.

Teignmouth harbour master, Rob Parsons, said the timing of incident was "unfortunate".

"Time and tide wait for no man and you can never beat Mother Nature," he added.

He said the priority was to get the vessel floated and his team would attempt to do so using a tug called Teign C early on New Year's Day.

In April, a cargo ship carrying animal feed had to be refloated after it ran aground during a similar incident in Teignmouth Harbour.

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