A BOAT owner has launched an appeal for witnesses after his seal watching ferry was damaged.

Christian Zimann, 38, who is the owner of the Seal Watching company, was left with a bill for £400 to repair a window which was shattered in his ferry.

He said: “I had a seal trip on Sunday and when I left, everything was good. On Monday morning when I returned the window was smashed.

“There was a stone on board the ferry. Somebody must have thrown it at the boat either by accident or intentionally.

“The window is a toughened marine safety glass with rubber inside, so it’s going to cost me about £400 to £500 to replace it because there’s a lot of work involved.”

The business owner said he won’t be able to use the ferry until the window is replaced but luckily this won’t affect his business as the seal watching trips will only restart in April.

He added: “Right now I’m not greatly affected, except the damage costs,.

“However, if this had happened in the summer it would have been a completely different story and a bigger issue.

“If anyone has any information, it would be good if they could let us know.”

Father-of-two Christian added Harwich Haven Authority has been asked to look at its CCTV footage to try to find out what happened.

A spokesman for the Haven Authority said: “We are aware the Harwich Harbour Ferry was damaged whilst moored in our pontoon facility.

“The area is under 24-hour CCTV surveillance and we will, of course, co-operate fully with Essex Police if they request CCTV footage of the incident.”

The incident happened some time between Sunday January 5 and the morning of Monday January 6.

If you have any further information about the incident, call Essex Police on 101 quoting 42/2904/20 crime reference number.

Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.