Blazes and groundings for Smit Salvage

In days gone by, Smit Salvage maintained a large number of towing vessels positioned at strategic locations globally but now, as part of the larger Boskalis group, can call on the substantial number of tugs and support vessels in its own fleet when they are available.

Such an opportunity presented itself when a pipe-laying barge ran aground in a tropical storm off Coatzacoalos, Mexico.

Smit Salvage was commissioned by the vessel’s owner to draw up re-floating plans and following the grounding a team boarded the casualty to inspect the vessel and determine the best plan to refloat the barge.

Originally built in 2006 for Louis Dreyfus Amateurs SAS, the anchor-handling vessel Fairmount Alpine was one of five similar vessels that operated under the Fairmount Marine banner.

All five of this series later became part the Boskalis fleet and with its new name Boka Alpine, the 205tbp tug was available in the region at Houston and quickly mobilised for the operation.

Loaded with salvage equipment, Dyneema rope and other materials for stabilising the casualty, Boka Alpine arrived on scene and assisted in re-floating the barge under the supervision of the salvage team.

Blazes

Fire is one of the most feared situations a mariner can face while at sea, an emergency that without rapid and specialist intervention can quickly get out of control, often necessitating the crew abandoning ship for their own safety.

Fires on container ships, whether originating from the vessel itself or the cargo therein, can be particularly problematic to deal with and ISU has long highlighted the difficulties salvors face responding to such emergencies.

Establishing the contents of each container is not always straightforward: if the container’s contents include chemicals or other dangerous or hazardous cargo, the usual fire-fighting method of drenching with water can actually aggravate the situation.

Salvors’ response teams nowadays often include a marine chemist, as was the case in one of two reported ship fires Smit Salvage has been involved in.

Earlier in 2024, a container vessel reported a “significant fire” on board while on passage approximately 50nm off the west coast of India.

Smit deployed several fire-fighting tugs and a large salvage team including fire-fighters and a marine chemist, all of whom boarded the vessel while working closely with Indian Coast Guard fire-fighting frigates.

As is typical with such incidents, extinguishing these fires can require extended periods tackling individual hot spots from container to container. The salvor’s efforts involved 24/7 cooling by the frigates, tugs and onboard teams for several weeks.

Latest information is that the fire has been extinguished, with the teams remaining on board to monitor the situation and ensure the vessel remains in a safe condition. The final phase of the operation will involve securing a suitable Place of Refuge for the vessel.

East Africa fire

More recently, Smit was tasked to assist in containing a suspected fire on another container ship off the coast of East Africa.

The vessel was on passage to the Mediterranean and transiting nearby South Africa when the crew noted smoke coming out of one of its cargo holds.

Fire-fighting measures were started, including releasing CO₂ into the hold, but smoke continued to emerge and a salvage team was dispatched to the casualty.

A vessel to support with boundary cooling was mobilised.

“Currently the situation onboard is stable and the team remains onboard to prevent additional hotspots and to avoid conditions that could lead to larger fire,” reports Smit. “Preparations are being made that the vessel can resume its voyage.”

Another currently active operation in the region has seen Smit working to remove bunkers and pollutants from a vessel stranded on the western coast of South Africa.

Severe adverse weather resulted in the vessel breaking up in the surf while the pollutant removal activity was ongoing, however, and Smit is caretaking while the operation moves to the next phase.