A container ship which grounded on a sandbank in a busy shipping lane has been refloated and safely returned to port.

The 369m-long ship had become stuck on Bramble Bank in Southampton Water on Saturday - the same sandbank on which the car carrier Hoegh Osaka grounded just over a year ago.

The Port of Southampton Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) sent eight tugs to assist the vessel but the container ship refloated on its own and managed to return to port under its own power.

A Coastguard spokeswoman said: "A large container ship (369m x51m) executed a controlled grounding at Bramble Bank, in Southampton Water, following a loss of power.

"Port of Southampton Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) sent eight tugs to the vessel.

"The container ship refloated and made its way to its berth under its own steam, with the tugs as escort."

She added: "At this time no damage or pollution has been reported, the Coastguard continue to monitor the situation."

The Hoegh Osaka, which had been listing at roughly 50 degrees, was also run aground on purpose on Bramble Bank after developing problems on January 3 last year.

It was carrying more than 1,400 cars including Jaguar Land Rover, Hyundai and Mini cars, as well as JCB vehicles.

The 51,000-tonne vessel was towed to Southampton where it took dock workers almost two weeks to remove the vehicles from the ship.

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