Due to adverse weather and sea conditions, the vessel was unable to secure anchor and subsequently ran aground in Wild Cove, west of Lark Harbour.
What does this mean? You don’t need to “secure” the anchor. You need to drop it. Which this ship clearly didn’t.
Maybe because just a few yards from the cliffs the water depth is too great or the ground was incapable of holding? Maybe the master believed an anchor might be more useful in a towing situation than lost. If you weren’t onboard I think you need to give the master the benefit of doubt.
The starboard anchor chain can be seen in the screen shot.
Based on where that line is hanging from on the starboard bow, I don’t think that is the anchor chain. But even if it were, if ever there was a time to deploy ALL anchors, this would be it.
Which raises a question I’ve often asked about securing the inboard end of the cable. My merchant mariner friends form a majority who prefer the cable to either not be secured or secured by a weaker link of some sort.
My naval training was that the inboard end was secured to a deck clench tested to 120% of the chain cable. In other words the anchor could be dropped and all the chain run out with brake failing etc and not lose the whole thing.
There are so many videos of the cable party watching the cable run out only to then see the end go down the hawse pipe before they can stop it.
I would have had both anchors out eventually in an attempt to prevent grounding. Why not?
Yes, it does look like ship’s end is too high for an anchor chain.
Seeing as this ship has both anchors aboard still, I guess they didn’t even try? Did their power failure take out all windlass controls? Is that even a thing?
I spooled up Aquamap and took a look (I love having useful charts in my pocket). I wouldn’t have found “Wild Cove” except the CCG had helpfully published a bulletin noting the location of this grounding. Certainly a desolate section of coastline.
But the depths offshore are not particularly deep - 100’ water depth about .5nm offshore, with a gradually-sloping bottom. No idea what its composed of outside, but the slope would imply it isn’t solid rock.
As long as the clutch isn’t engaged on the windlass (which it shouldn’t have been), you don’t need power to let go the anchors.
Acceptance trials of a naval vessel in the UK are brutal. Both anchors are run out in the Irish Sea and required to be recovered at a set number of metres per minute. At full astern (26 knots steam turbine) the helm was put over one way then the other and deflections were taken on the cross arms. A merchant vessel would have kissed the rudder goodbye in single figures. The Whitby Frigate I’m referring to was then secured to a buoy and a pattern of explosives were moved closer and closer to see what machinery gave up. They did the same test again before they scrapped her.
She was the only one of the class to be so tested.
Off Bahrain in a 250,000 tonne VLCC we anchored stopped in the water but unfortunately not over the ground. I was 2nd mate and as the 7th shackle came and went fire hoses on the brake were keeping the flames under control I could see that nothing was going to stop so having announced “follow me” we beat the feet.
It didn’t stop and the bitter end disappeared with assorted bits of steel.
SOP on our vessels crossing the Bering Sea/GOA in winter is for the clutch to be engaged, the brake set, pawl engaged, and devils claw set. Reason: the heavy seas of Aleutian winters cause anchors to back out with repeated pitching, at the worst cracking the concrete/foam plugs of the spill pipes, allowing the chain lockers to flood. At best, once anchors back out of the hawse because of the shocks of repeated heavy pitching they start knocking against the hull all day long.
Once the boat arrives on either of the inside-passages the precautions are reduced, and an anchor is rigged to drop solely from a brake.
There is always a gray area where a boat is in heavy seas but near land. If the boat were to lose main electrical power with the anchors secured for sea an anchor could not be dropped until hydraulic power was reestablished. The windlass hydraulics on our boats are powered from mains.
If electrical power was lost close to land I could see officers and crew focused on getting the ship back underway again, rather than focusing on dropping anchor. The result might be as seen here.
Excellent observation. You have a keen eye indeed. 
So the anchor accidently drop while the ship is in deep water.
The the chain is stopped by a solid end link. Now the full length of chain is hanging down, but not hitting bottom.
(Presumably the link is connected to a padeye solidly welded to a struckture of equal or more strength)
Windlasses on merchant ships has limited power.
How are you going to retreive the chain and anchor?
Why would it do that? I would have thought the windlass specifications would be to lift the combined weight of anchor and all the cable. Is that not so?
If the windlass can’t do it, you would have to cut the cable.
My background is from warships. We always had the option of weighing by deck tackle. This was exercised every now and then. It can only be done where there are long sections of the cable exposed on deck as with warships. Capstan and cable holders on the deck forward of the main guns provided a lower profile than windlasses to allow the guns to fire ahead at low elevation. All hands were required with a large tackle to heave in the cable in short lengths and another smaller tackle to overhaul the main one after each section. Generally not considered great fun for the crew but there was always the option.
You seem to be suggesting it is good to not secure the inboard end of the cable. Is that so? Is that your only reason?
Good stories!
I was foc’sl officer aboard HMAS Supply, fleet replenishment tanker. We were required to anchor in deep water off Jervis Bay exercise area to provide a floating datum for a Smashex (finding a bottomed submarine for subsequent rescue). I forget the depth but probably 300 feet. The ship stopped and I veered 5 shackles under (steam) power, stopped and prepared to let the rest run on the brake. I ordered off brake and something like yours happened. The brake operator was immediately engulfed in a cloud of rust, mud dust and smoke from the brake and I lost sight for my hand signals. By the time I got to him the cable stopped dead on the deck clench and I felt the bow drop under the weight coming to a sudden stop. Got my arse kicked for not foreseeing that situation. But it showed the value of securing the inboard end of the cable.