Salvage Round-up (November 2022)

It’s not unusual for salvage assignments to last for extended periods and an eight-week operation for Greek salvor Tsavliris demonstrates how a seemingly run-of-the-mill disabled ship tow job can in reality be more complex.

The bulker Magic Seas was laden with 60,500t of petroleum coke when it lost propulsion 170 miles east of Bermuda. Tsavliris mobilised the tug ALP Winger (218tbp) along with a salvage team and three semi-submersible pumps from Algeciras, arriving on scene two weeks later.

An inspection established the tail shaft had sheared and was lost along with the propeller. The tail shaft was secured from the engine room side and sealed from both sides by fabricating a steel box on the sea side and cement box in the engine room: additional structures, brackets and stiffeners were welded for extra reinforcement. Towage to Izmir involved stops in Gibraltar and Malta, the operation completed eight weeks later and following cargo discharge the AHTS Leader Z (131tbp) towed Magic Seas to Piraeus.

Ever Forward

When the 334m long container ship Ever Forward grounded along its entire length in Chesapeake Bay, the incident lasting just 90 seconds with the vessel making about 13kn a ‘Rapid Assessment Survey’, divers and engineers from Donjon-Smit found the vessel to be around 3m out-of-draught with an estimated ground reaction of nearly 20,000t.

The vessel’s departure condition from Baltimore, massive ground reaction, bottom conditions and asset availability dictated a multi-faceted approach and following surveys, two dredgers were employed to remove more than 213,000 cubic yards of spoil from around the vessel.

Meanwhile, two 600t-capable pull barges were assembled for a traditional pulling arrangement of two ground-tackle sets, in turn restrained by four further sets providing restraint for two 300t chain pullers on a deck barge. Five hundred containers totalling 7,248t were removed from the ship, the timing well ahead of the point where 5,000t of ballast water was discharged. Thirty-five days after grounding, six tugs successfully refloated Ever Forward, which was redelivered to Port of Baltimore.

Boluda

Boluda Towage is known for its shiphandling services, covering around 100 ports in 18 countries, but with a fleet of more than 400 tugs will naturally find itself in the right place at the right time when ships encounter difficulties. When the general cargo vessel Scot Mariner suffered engine failure in the Inner Moray Forth, Boluda’s Invergordon-based Strathdee and Strathdon were on hand to tow the vessel to Inverness.

Following a storm at Valencia, a fish farm metal cage of 20m diameter became stranded on the beach of Pinedo near Albufera natural park, and the intervention of Boluda’s VB Poder saw the cage safely towed to the harbour basin.

VB Poder was on hand again when a 25m yacht caught fire in Valencia; using its fire-fighting equipment the tug extinguished the fire, which was reported as seemingly uncontrollable by shore crews.

Resolve Marine

Resolve Marine is known for its OPA 90-related activities in the US, but the Fort Lauderdale-based company also operates globally, including in Europe, where in 2020 it completed a complex operation to refloat a cargo vessel aground off the Isle of Skye.

On the other side of the world, Resolve was on hand when a fire broke out among containers on the forward deck of a 3,000teu container ship off the coast of Vietnam. A salvage team was mobilised from Singapore and along with local salvors and firefighters worked to bring the situation under control and extinguish the fire, allowing the vessel to berth in Vung Tau, Vietnam.

Nearer home for Resolve, when a general cargo vessel ran aground on a sandy bank in the Bahamas the salvor’s 1976-built tug Resolve Commander was dispatched to the scene along with a salvage master and salvage officer from Freeport, Bahamas.

Initial refloating attempts were unsuccessful and two additional tugs were engaged to assist and after extensive “propeller washing work”, the vessel was successfully freed from the sandbank nine days after grounding.

Another vessel grounding involving Resolve unfolded when a tanker ran aground off the coast of Galveston, Texas. A salvage master from Houston attended to oversee the operation with a resource partner tug arriving on scene within 24 hours to safely refloat the vessel.