Owners of stricken Boat at Richmond call restaurant sinking ‘tragic'
Owners of a floating restaurant on London's River Thames that sank last weekend have described the incident as "tragic", and said they are in the process of a "massive clean up".
The historic barge-based Boat at Richmond Bridge restaurant, found on the river in south-west London's Richmond-upon-Thames, was damaged when it began taking on water in the early hours of Friday (17thApril). The pontoon had failed, causing boats tied to it to sink. The Boat restaurant was eventually entirely submerged.
Photo byTweets by rnli_teddington
No-one was injured and no-one had been inside the ship at the time.
Owned and established in 2009 by friends Devon Gayle, Melanie Goodwin, Peter McMahon, and Kate Axten, the restaurant today posted an update on its website confirming the "tragic sinking of our beloved boat on Friday morning".
It said that the restaurant would be unable to open its doors due to the incident, but the owners were "in the process of a massive clean up operation" and were "hoping to be back in business in the not too distant future". They thanked all their customers and said they had been "overwhelmed by the support we have received".
One of only 11 such remaining vessels, the barge property was first owned by Jesus College, Oxford, which first created a tradition of building riverboat barges for events in the fifteenth century.
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