A SALVAGE boat involved in the Longsands barge clear-up was at the centre of a new drama after it started sinking in Weymouth Bay.

Coastguards said the 18-metre catamaran Shoreline Engineer started taking on water off Preston Beach after damage was caused to one of its hulls, thought to be due to a collision with part of the stranded barge.

It was listing heavily on its port side and became beached as an operation got under way to stabilise the vessel.

Crew worked through the night and managed to refloat the boat on high tide this morning. The ship has been taken to Portland Port for repairs.

The drama unfolded at 5.30pm yesterday. A coastguard spokesman said that the crew called them to say that the ship had been holed, was taking on a significant amount of water and needed more pumps to control it.

Among the boats coming to its aid was the record-breaking powerboat Earthrace visiting Weymouth as part of a promotional tour.

Crew lent their counterparts on the Shoreline Engineer a high-capacity pump.

Weymouth Lifeboat and the Portland Coastguard helicopter were also involved and lent pumps.

Shoreline Engineer remained stranded today but coastguards said there was no danger of it breaking up or turning over and no pollution fears because there was little fuel on board.

No one was hurt in the drama and the crew stayed on board.

The remaining sections of the Longsands barge - which ran aground last autumn - were due to be removed this week but the operation was postponed because of poor weather.

A Portland Coastguard spokesman said: "It punctured one of its two hulls after nudging something.

"They probably collided with the thing they're trying to salvage.

"It started taking on water and the crew asked for a pump which we managed to get to them but it didn't solve the problem so more pumps were sent.

"We were then informed the vessel was touching the bottom. It's out of the way and it's not going to break up.

"There was some expensive and sensitive equipment on board which was taken off."

Earthrace skipper Pete Bethune said: "We were just leaving after an awesome three days in Weymouth when we heard over the radio that a vessel was in trouble and in need of a pump.

"We have one which pumps at 600 litres a minute and we thought they could use it.

"The coastguard chopper put a man down on our boat and took the pump, it was quite a drama."

Mr Bethune, from New Zealand, said Shoreline Engineer looked like it was in serious trouble'.

He added: "It was tipped over facing out to sea and I'm assuming it had a hole in the side because it had taken on a lot of water.

"We're glad we could help out. It's good exercise for the crew too."

Earthrace runs on biodiesel and in June it smashed the world record for circumnavigating the globe in the fastest time.