Catamaran drifts onto shoreline near St Anne Island in Seychelles

The Hygge of Denmark drifted onto the rock-armoured shoreline near St Anne Island with enough force to leave the catamaran slightly tilted, a reminder that even a modest drag can become a shoreline problem fast in Seychelles waters. Marine police were already on scene by the time a reporter arrived, and the vessel was grounded shortly before 15:00 local time on Sunday afternoon, May 17, 2026.

The boat was believed to have been anchored inside the marine park before it moved, but the exact sequence of events remained unclear. It was not immediately known whether anyone was aboard when the catamaran grounded. Foreign nationals who had earlier been on the boat were on another island when the problem emerged, then returned by dinghy after hearing about it. That detail matters: on a multihull, the difference between an uneventful anchorage and a grounding can be a narrow window of weather, tide and decision-making.

The forecast for the day offered the kind of conditions that can lull crews into a false sense of security. The Seychelles Meteorological Authority called for moderate south-easterly winds, with marine conditions showing 20 to 35 km/h winds, a moderate sea state and average observed waves of about 1.7 m to 1.8 m. The tide cycle also placed a vulnerable boat in a tricky position, with low tide at 10:12 at 0.4 m and high tide at 16:51 at 2.0 m. For a catamaran, that combination can turn an anchor set that looked acceptable at breakfast into a shoreline exposure by afternoon, especially if the boat veered, dragged or settled into a less protected angle as the water dropped away.

The incident unfolded in Ste Anne Marine National Park, a protected area decreed on March 19, 1973, and the oldest marine park in Seychelles and the Western Indian Ocean region. That makes any grounding more than a seamanship issue. Recent restoration work in the park has already put 16,678 coral colonies back across four restoration sites, restoring about 4,280 square metres of reef habitat. A grounded catamaran on that kind of shoreline is a warning for every skipper who settles into exposed island water without checking the full arc of wind, swell and tide.

The practical lesson is plain. In Seychelles-style anchorages, a multihull needs more than a good-looking bottom and a calm morning. Crews have to verify anchor set, watch the forecast for south-easterly shifts, plan for low water as carefully as high water, and be ready to leave before the boat finds the rocks first. The Hygge of Denmark showed how little margin remains once a catamaran starts to drift toward a hard shoreline.