SHIPYARD NEWS

Christmas rescue and repair in Cornwall

17 years ago

Christmas celebrations were put on the backburner as staff from incident response specialists Braemar Howells worked round the clock to prevent a potential environmental disaster off the UK coast at Falmouth in Cornwall.

The bulk carrier Newcastle, carrying Ferrous Sulphate en‐route from Spain destined for a chemical company in Grimsby, got into difficulty in the Bay of Biscay when its cargo became contaminated with seawater and shifted, causing the vessel to take on a dangerous starboard list.

The vessel was brought into Falmouth as a casualty and detained by the MCA pending resolution of the problem. That’s when the Falmouth based team from Braemar Howells came to the rescue.

Stuart Evans, the company’s managing director for industrial and marine services explained, ‘It was a case of all hands to the pump. If the ship hadn’t made it into Falmouth Docks this could have been a very serious situation indeed.’

Drawing on their experience in dealing with the stricken cargo ship MSC Napoli, the maritime emergency specialists from Braemar Howells and their partner organisations worked around the clock to remove nearly 6,000 tons of potentially hazardous cargo, which had started to leach corrosive sulphuric acid, and take it to three specially prepared warehouses in Cornwall where it could be safely managed. There were fears that if the cargo was not removed quickly it had the potential to corrode the steel hull of the vessel.

Stuart Evans continued, ‘This was an intense job for us and our staff worked in shifts right from the moment we were called in to help and even worked on Christmas Day. Braemar Howells has provided a very comprehensive service for this job. Not only have we removed the cargo into specially engineered storage in under 10 days, we have also cleaned and repaired the vessel, making it seaworthy again.’

Braemar Howells would like to thank DRS Demolition National (Dave Shriggly and Nick Southall); Truro Harbour Commissioners (Andy Brigden); A&P Falmouth (Mike Reynolds & Robbie Johnson); Falmouth Harbour Commissioners Pilots (Mark Killingback); Denhol Barwill Ship Agent & Marine Services (Geoff Hoyle); JB Marine (Jonny Bennetts); and all the families who put up with their loved ones working over Christmas.