The oil tanker that ran aground off The Needles yesterday has apparently refloated and is currently at anchor off the Isle of Wight.
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The Liberian-registered Chem Alya had left Fawley for Egypt on Monday afternoon but, just a few hours into its journey, it became stuck at the Island beauty spot.
The MCA said: "A motor tanker ran aground close to low water, on the shingles bank near the Isle of Wight.
"The hull is sound, there is no pollution, no ingress of water and it has propulsion and power."
The Chem Alya off the Isle of Wight this morning (Tuesday).
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The plan was to refloat the vessel on the high tide overnight, at 2am.
This morning (Tuesday), it is at anchor off the Island's north coast.
The grounding and safety operation was monitored by members of the Needles Coastwatch team.
In a statement, they said: "Our Watchkeepers were witness to an ongoing incident just near the watchtower, when the 144 metre Liberian-flagged 'MT CHEM AYLA' oil/chemical tanker ran aground at around 16.20pm on the treacherous Needles shingle bank.
"It was west of the Isle of Wight, whist en-route between Fawley and Egypt. The vessel is safe and undamaged."
Yarmouth RNLI was also on the scene and the coastguard helicopter was spotted over the Island.
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