Drama brews on high seas as Playmobil ship running out of steam: Vessel charts a course to pirate tax haven

Drama brews on high seas as Playmobil ship running out of steam: Vessel charts a course to pirate tax haven
Rebecca Hill 20 Apr 2018 https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/04/20/playmobil_ship_loses_juice/

A Playmobil pirate ships's journey to the Caribbean sea risks being scuppered as its supplies run low.

The vessel, named Adventure by two Scottish brothers – Ollie Ferguson, 8, and Harry, 5 – and their family, set sail from the west coast of Africa last year.

It was edging closer to Guyana when the brothers' dad, MacNeill Ferguson, realised that the battery on its tracker was running low.

"The tracker pings a location twice a day, but with 27 per cent of battery life left it needs to be recharged," he told the BBC.

Initially, it was hoped that UK offshore vessel the Stena Carron would be able to intercept the smaller ship and give it some juice.

However, the online tracker shows the Adventure heading away from the vessel – and coast – currently at a speed of 1.4 knots.

The crew on Stena Carron said they would try to make contact with other vessels in the area, but Ferguson admitted "we cannot expect them to do too much for a toy boat".

The good ship Adventure was first launched in May last year, making its way first to Sweden – where it somehow moored up in a tree – and then on to Norway.

It was then in dry dock for a while, before having its sails and rigging replaced by the crew of Norwegian vessel, the Christian Radich, and being launched off the coast of Mauritania.

According to the tracker, the Adventure is now headed north towards the British Virgin Islands – possibly Norman Island, the inspiration for Robert Louis Stephenson's Treasure Island and reportedly an established historic hiding spot for pirate booty and modern-day tax avoiders. ®