Riverdance finally went ashore on North Beach, Blackpool, with nine crew aboard and still attempting to improve stability while the ship was aground. Smit Salvage was engaged by the underwriters under a Lloyds Open Form contract with a SCOPIC clause to recover the casualty. SOSREP (Secretary of States Representative for Salvage) Hugh Shaw has remained in overall control of the situation and continues to work closely with the salvage team. A salvage control unit was established and temporary exclusion zone of 400m set up around the vessel.

Initially, salvage operations went well and the ship’s bunkers were removed almost immediately and transferred into road tankers. Further work to remove all pollutants has continued throughout the salvage operation. Unfortunately further bad weather has severely hampered preparations to refloat the vessel, including removal of the deck cargo, much of which was washed overboard.

In spite of various attempts to stabilize the ship in readiness for refloating, severe weather conditions and gale force 8 winds around 22 February caused further damage to the side and stern ramp doors and the list increased to over 85 degrees. With Riverdance virtually on its ‘beam ends’, vehicles and cargo lashings broke loose within the vessel causing the salvors to re-evaluate the situation.

At the time of writing, work was proceeding, when weather and tidal conditions allowed, to seal the ramp doors and any other accessible openings with a view to improve buoyancy and with careful ballasting reduce the list to manageable proportions. Work on the ship in its present condition has proved to be extremely difficult and hazardous, with members of the salvage team frequently having to use abseiling techniques to access some areas.

SOSREP Hugh Shaw told Maritime Journal that he remains optimistic that there is a very real possibility that Riverdance can be refloated intact during a forthcoming period of high tides, provided that sufficient buoyancy can be achieved and the list reduced. He emphasised that some unknown factors remain, such as further damage currently masked due to the ship’s position on the sands and the amount of silt that may have entered the hull.

By Jack Gaston