Speculation that the "supermoon" may have caused the Japanese earthquake was dismissed by Nasa – but now British coastguards say it could be behind the stranding of several ships.
Revellers stand beside St. Michael's Tower on Glastonbury Tor watching the moon as it is at its closest point to the Earth for almost two decades Photo:
Yesterday afternoon five different vessels got into distress in the busy shipping lanes of the Solent, at the Needles on the western side of the Isle of Wight.
Coastguards suggested that they were caught out by Saturday evening's "supermoon", which caused sandbanks to be exposed by low tides.
One of the ships was the 2,900-tonne cargo ship Paula-C, on its way to Cowes with a crew of nine. They were forced to wait for a high tide to lift them clear of a shingle bank.
A 25-foot yacht ran aground and three other vessels were also marooned on sand and shingle banks that normally lie submerged.
A spokesman for the Coastguard said: "We checked them all and there were no injuries, just some surprise at being caught out like this. Blame it on the moon."
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