Response to major ship fire in Scotland

Early last month the vessel was loading aggregate at a Scottish terminal for a voyage to the Netherlands when it suffered a fire centred in the conveyor system.

SMIT Salvage and co-salvors J.P. Knight, Lowestoft, were contracted on Friday 2 July to respond to this emergency. The vessel was at the berth at Glensanda Harbour. The fire spread to the accommodation block and the top of the engine room and an explosion resulted, caused by liquids detonating in the steering compartment.

A substantial salvage response was required to reduce and eventually extinguish this fire. The co-salvors mobilised the large salvage tug Anglian Sovereign and two harbour tugs, the latter standing by to connect up in case the casualty needed to be kept in position (the aft mooring winches were no longer in operation). These efforts won more control over the situation. At one point there had been concern that Yeoman Bontrup could break free of its moorings.

Several days of round the clock cooling and firefighting then followed. The 13 strong salvage team finally succeeded in extinguishing all fires on 6 July. With the situation stable, the casualty was moved clear of the berth after the discharge ladder was swung back on board and taken to a safe anchorage. This move was completed on Friday 9 July. At the time of writing, work continued to improve the vessel’s condition and prepare it for a tow to Amsterdam. This tow is to be undertaken by a 140 tons bollard pull tug, assisted by a steering tug from JP Knight.

Beyond Europe, SMIT Salvage teams from Singapore successfully completed two recent LOF casualty operations. One of the Lloyd’s Forms involved the general cargo/container vessel Piya Bhum. This Singapore flagged vessel of 16,356 DWT became the subject of a salvage contract on 9 May.

Attempts to self refloat the 1985 built vessel were unsuccessful as the vessel hit a submerged object. The casualty was aground in Indonesian waters and flooding was reported in the engine room. The salvage team carried out a part discharge of Piya Bhum’s cargo, completed temporary repairs and patching and then pumped out the flooded spaces. Salvage services were terminated following refloating and the vessel was subsequently towed to Singapore under a commercial contract.

The second Lloyd’s Form in the Far East concerned the 2007 built general cargo vessel Genius Star VIII, which grounded on the north coast of Sumatra with a cargo of 11,000 tons of soya beans. The LOF contract was awarded on 12 June to SMIT Salvage and co-salvors Nippon Salvage. The salvage fleet consisted of three 70 tons bollard pull tugs from the Keppel-SMIT fleet.

In this case the salvage team found that the casualty could be refloated without cargo discharge. Genius Star VIII came free at high water on 25 June. A diving inspection found only minor damage and the vessel was redelivered at a nearby anchorage.