After the crew had been safely taken off the stricken vessel, Multraship, working in cooperation with Belgian salvage specialist URS, discharged the Al Shaymaa’s remaining cargo of steel coils using mobile shore cranes before ballasting the vessel and restoring it to an upright, stable position.

The floating sheerlegs Amsterdam was stationed at the Al Shaymaa’s stern, and a double strength salvage team comprising salvage officers, naval architects, divers, riggers and stevedores was on site throughout the operation, during which the salvage tugs Barracuda, Furie 3 and Zephyrus, all equipped with pumps and firefighting equipment, were on standby.

Multraship managing director Leendert Muller observed, 'Once again an incident with potentially serious consequences for both life and property has been attended swiftly and efficiently by professional salvors. These things often happen in the middle of the night, or in the early hours of the morning, but the salvage industry never sleeps. Also the good level of cooperation and communication between Multraship and the local port authorities was a factor in the success of the operation.'