Salvage teams kept busy in early 2012

The first was the laden bulk carrier Aristeas P, laden with a cargo of 30,650 tonnes of soya bean pellets. This vessel ran aground on 18 January. Inspection revealed that a part discharge would be required to achieve a refloating. The vessel was freed during the last week of January and redelivered to the owners.

The second casualty was the 37,000 dwt bulk carrier Nord Barcelona, which ran aground in the river on 27 January laden with grain. In this instance, SMIT’s salvage team achieved a refloating without the need for a part discharge, by reballasting and deploying two tugs to the scene.

A third casualty in South America occurred in late February, when the Buenos Aires Express reported a fire in the engine room whilst at a point 60 miles off the Brazilian coast. The fire was extinguished by the fixed CO₂ system and the casualty was towed to safety by two SMIT tugs.

Other casualties during the early weeks of the year included the chemical tanker Dattilo M, which came very close to grounding on the Greek island of Kythnos during a violent storm. This vessel was in ballast at the time of the emergency and a tug managed to connect up when Dattilo M was just 150m from the rocks. The Lloyd’s Form operation was terminated upon redelivery, on 8 January.

Meanwhile, in Africa, a Lloyd’s Form SCOPIC operation began on 22 January when the geared general cargo vessel Le Shan grounded off Tema, Ghana. The vessel was carrying steel products and a deck cargo of dumper trucks. The salvage team refloated the vessel on 14 February.

The first quarter of this year also saw a SMIT Salvage team begin work on a major oil recovery project, following the Costa Concordia casualty. This contract called for the removal of oils and wastewater from the vessel’s tanks.

Work proceeded in mid-February, with SMIT working alongside its Italian partners, Fratelli Neri. At the time of writing the operation was entering its final phase. The team is tasked to recover some 2,400 tonnes of HFO and 200 tonnes of diesel. A total of 17 tanks are involved.

This project followed on from the major pollution prevention assignment successfully concluded for a Korean Government agency last year, involving the pump-out of the sunken tanker Kyung Shin.

SMIT’s hectic start to the New Year followed on from a busy final quarter of 2011. The casualty work in this period included the general cargo vessel TK Bremen, which drifted off the French coast and ultimately ran aground on the beach near Lorient during a storm. SMIT Salvage and the French salvor Les Abeilles were involved in the response. Bunkers were removed and the vessel, declared a CTL, was removed within one month of the grounding.