RICK

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Body of missing skipper found

On Apr 19, 2015, the body of the 35-year-old Rick Banda from Moerdijk was found at Hoofdplate. He went missing early in February when the "Rick" capsized on the Wester Scheldt. Passers-by found the body in the morning at the jetty of the village and alerted the police. The remains were recovered by the water police and the KNRM. Emergency services had searched for weeks for the missing skipper. Two other people on board were saved. The cause of the accident was still unknown.

Search for missing skipper resumed

A team of the police resumed the search for the missing Skipper of the "Rick" in the Wester Scheldt on Feb 8. Underwater experts were scouring the area off the Hoofd plate with two vessels. One team was searching with sonar equipment, the other was equipped with dredges. The special team of the police, the Landelijk Team Onderwater Zoekingen (LTOZ), found the wreck of the car of the missing skipper of the "Rick" on the bottom of the Wester Scheldt in the afternoon. The hope that the man was inside the wreck had proved in vain before, as the wheelhouse was broken up and the entire ship meanwhile was searched without results. On the Wester Scheldt is a strong current through the tides change. Also, the depth varies from six to ten meters. Dutch reports with photos: http://nos.nl/artikel/2018020-zoektocht-vermiste-schipper-westerschelde-hervat.html http://www.tugspotters.com/site/content/2015/02/berging-gekapseisd-beunschip/ http://www.hvzeeland.nl/nieuws/25810-zoekactie-naar-opvarende-voortgezet/

Rick upright again

The "Rick" was turned upright by the "Cormorant" of Multraship in the morning of Feb 7 at 3.30 a.m. and at 4.30 a.m. successfully brought to the Autriche port between Westdorpe and Axel near Terneuzen. The third crew member was still not found. The water police was searching for the Skipper Rick Broekmuelen, a 35 year old man from Moerdijk, aboard the ship. The search was complicated by the havoc inside the ship. Henk Broekmeulen, the former master, aged 66, had been rescued seriously hypothermic, but stable by the diver John Gazan eight hours after the barge capsized. The family Broekmeulen has been working for twenty years with the sand company Faasse from Goes. Dutch reports with photos: http://www.omroepzeeland.nl/nieuws/2015-02-07/809569/waterpolitie-zoekt-verder-naar-vermiste-schipper#.VNX-R8gwfIV http://www.nu.nl/binnenland/3987992/bergers-zetten-schip-westerschelde-weer-overeind.html http://www.pzc.nl/regio/zeeuws-nieuws/gekapseisd-schip-weer-rechtgezet-1.4751914