The Höegh Osaka car carrier is being moved to a holding position two miles east of its current location in the Solent after the ship self floated at 1.55pm on Wednesday.

All salvors on board were able to leave the vessel safely and the list of the ship remains unchanged while it’s towed to a new area.

A coastguard spokesperson said: “This new location is just inside Portsmouth Harbour and is close to the area called Spitbank.

“Queen’s Harbour Master Portsmouth has established a temporary exclusion zone of 300 metres around the vessel.”

Svitzer, who are leading the salvage operation, are carrying out the tow to the new holding position and once there, will conduct a full assessment of the ship’s condition.

Disruption to Southampton’s port is being kept to a minimum, with a slight traffic restriction being put in place until the vessel is clear of the main channel.

The ship is currently in a stable condition after grounding on Bramble Bank late on Saturday evening.

At a press conference on Sunday, Höegh Autoliners CEO Ingar Skiaker said the vessel’s pilot made the decision to ground the vessel after it began listing severely and was at risk of capsizing.

A decision on the next phase of the salvage operation will be made once an assessment of the ship has been completed.