On 10th September 1976 a huge wave broke a port hole and a studio was flooded. Programmes resumed by using another studio. At 20:30 hours during the force nine storm the anchor was lost and the ship started to drift. Lifeboats and RAF Manston were put on standby. On the next morning at 03:20 the station left the air, as the Mi Amigo was on a sandbank. The hull was holed in two places and there were six feet of water in some parts of the ship. The English DJs decided to stay, but the Dutch DJs and crew were taken off to Ostend, Belgium. They searched Ostend harbour and found an impounded oil tanker. On board were a large anchor and a chain which they removed during the night and took back to the MV Mi Amigo, where it served for thirteen years until the ship sank on 19th March 1990. On 16th September two tenders arrived with a relief crew and towed the ship clear of the sandbank.
On 18th January 1979 the MV Mi Amigo developed a serious leak. With the shortage of diesel oil and most of the generators not working, the intake of water soon became dangerous. On the next day a "Mayday" was broadcast on an international distress frequency (2182 Khz) and was answered by Thames coast guard. At 15:09 hours the Harwich lifeboat was launched. Three other ships stood by: the May Crest, the Sand Serin (a sand dredger) and the Cambrai. At 18:20 hours five people were taken off the ship. The first time the Mi Amigo had been abandoned while in open seas. On 20th January Peter Chicago went out to the Mi Amigo on a small trawler and managed to jump aboard. Later a salvage crew made up of "free radio supporters" boarded the ship and started to pump out the water from the Mi Amigo.
On 19th March 1980, during force ten storms, the anchor chain broke, and the Mi Amigo drifted for ten miles before running aground onto the Long Sand Bank The hull was damaged in the generator room. Water started to pour in. At 23:58 hours the Caroline theme was played for the last time, then DJ Stevie Gordon announced "Due to severe weather conditions and the fact that we are shipping quite a lot of water, we're closing down and the crew are at this stage leaving the ship. Obviously we hope to be back with you as soon as possible, but we'd just like to assure you all on land that there's nothing to worry about. We're all quite safe. Just for the moment we'd like to say goodbye." DJ Tom Anderson then continued "Yes it's not a very good occasion really. I have to hurry this as the lifeboat is standing by. We're not leaving and disappearing, we're going onto the lifeboat hoping that the pump can take it. If they can, we'll be back. If not, well I don't like to say it. I think we will be back one way or another." DJ Stevie Gordon continued "Yes I think so, From all of us, for the moment goodbye and God bless." After standing by for three hours the coxswain of the Sheerness lifeboat insisted that the crew leave the ship as parts of the ship are waist deep in water. On the next day the Mi Amigo sank at 51 degrees 35 minutes North, 01 degrees 17 minutes 20 seconds East. Only the mast remained visible. Divers inspected the Mi Amigo and announced that the ship was distorting as it sank into the sand. On 22nd May Thanet Council announced plans to refloat the Mi Amigo and turn it into a tourist attraction in Ramsgate, Kent. But the Mi Amigo was left untouched. During the last week of July 1986 the mast on the MV Mi Amigo collapsed. On 2nd August Trinity House issued a notice (weekly edition 30) stating that the one-hundred and twenty-seven foot mast was no longer visible. On 13th September Trinity House issued an updated notice (weekly edition 36) stating that a can buoy is to be placed at the location of the wreck of the MV Mi Amigo.
(With thanks to Ben Meijering for digitalizing the footage which I found on Ebay some years ago.)
