Salvage%20World%20Q1%202010

ISU Associate Members’ Day 2010

The annual event was at London’s Institute of Directors in March with some 130 delegates registered.

of guest speakers. Smit’s Jason Bennett gave views on the current state of the salvage industry and Steve Clinch spoke about the work of the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch. Keith Sturges outlined proposed changes to Lloyd’s Form, including the future publication of LOF salvage awards.

President of the ISU, Todd Busch, opened the conference and welcomed the delegates saying their attendance was “a very practical demonstration of how important the salvage industry is to the wider shipping sector and to those professions which serve it.”

Simon Rickaby of Breamar Howells gave a talk on the challenges of handling highly hazardous material and Dave Salt of Oil Spill Response outlined its international capabilities and described oil spill clean up operations.

He added that seeing delegates from the law, insurance, surveying and brokering communities “helped to remind us salvors of the far reaching impact of our profession.”

Moya Crawford of ISU associate member Deeptek noted the work of the learned Society for Underwater Technology and the value that the salvage industry can offer to offshore installation decommissioning.

She also described precision engineering at extreme water depths.

The International Salvage Union held a highly successful and well attended conference for its associate and affiliated members.

The ISU’s professional advisers gave updates on their work including presentation of the ISU’s 2009 pollution prevention figures (see story page 4) and there was a programme

The day ended with a drinks reception for delegates and speakers. (See page 10).

Above: ISU President Todd Busch welcomes delegates. Right: Moya Crawford of ISU Associate Member Deeptek.

ISU UPDATE ISU photograph competition The ISU is to recognise the excellence of the photographs taken by its members’ staff. It is to launch an annual competition to choose the best shot taken during a salvage operation. All photographs submitted for publication in Salvage World will be eligible, a sub-group of the Executive Committee chaired by James Herbert, ISU’s communications adviser, will choose the best shot and the winner will receive a prize valued at US $300.

Annual General Meeting Members are reminded that the annual general meeting of the ISU will take place at the Hotel Negresco, Nice, France from 21-23 September. Booking forms will be issued in the coming period.

Lloyd’s Salvage Group The Lloyd’s Salvage Group has agreed that there will be two meetings a year instead of one and attendance, which had

become unwieldy, will be reduced. The group will have a fixed chairman who will be the most senior arbitrator. In between the two meetings, LOF users will have the opportunity to hold bi-lateral discussions with Lloyd’s.

The group agreed, among other matters, that publication of awards would make LOF more transparent and was to be welcomed.

It agreed that publication should be the default position though a party may request that publication be postponed or stopped if they can demonstrate commercial damage will result from the publication. The group did not support parties being allowed to make submissions on the quantum of award.

the Special Casualty Representitive sifting committee has added the following to the pool of SCRs: Colin Barker – TMC Marine Consultants, UK; Graeme Bowles – C-Mar Group, UK; Eric Houtteman – Independent, The Netherlands; Paul Voisin - London Offshore Consultants, USA. New member ISU welcomes Solar Salvage to full membership of the ISU: Solar Salvage Services Inc. Kartal Is Merkezi E-5 No. 63 Yakacik, Istanbul, TURKEY

SCOPIC matters

Contact: Murat Dalyan

The Portable Equipment Schedule has been reviewed, and recommendations made by a committee chaired by John Noble.

The review of the SCOPIC Tariff rates will be carried out later this year. Separately,

Tel: (+90) 216 452 2020 Fax: (+90) 216 451 2010

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Email: solarsalvage@solarsalvage.com website: www.solarsalvage.com

International Salvage Union announces new Vice President Andreas Tsavliris has been elected as Vice President of the International Salvage Union.

President of the ISU, Todd Busch, said: “I am delighted to welcome Andreas as the ISU’s new Vice President. He brings energy and a wealth of knowledge and experience having worked in the salvage industry for some 40 years.

“I look forward to working with him as we tackle the many issues facing our industry.”

Andreas Tsavliris is one of the principals of Tsavliris Salvage. He joined the firm in 1970 and has worked in many different departments in the company.

He has been a member of the ISU

US Wreck Removal Oil Program (WORP) The American Salvage Association (ASA) is addressing the issue of potentially-polluting wrecks.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) has begun to plan a programme to consider these shipwrecks, called the Wreck Oil Removal Program (WORP).

And the ASA is working together with the North American Marine Environmental Protection Association (NAMEPA) and other industry parties to support the continuation and expansion of this programme.

The threat is said to be growing as the condition of many wrecks deteriorates.

From the environmental and economic point of view there is little difference between oil spilling from a sunken vessel and oil spilling from a modern day vessel casualty.

However, while there is no way to predict the location or timing of the next major oil spill, potentially-polluting wreck sites are known and the probability of a spill can be assessed.

According to the ASA there is strong evidence that a number of wrecks in US coastal waters are “spills waiting to happen.”

Executive Committee since 2006. He is also a member of the executive board of the Greek Shipowners’ Union in London (GSCC); a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (FICS); an associate member of the Institute of Arbitrators (AIArb); a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and a member of European Tugowners’ Association. He was also an underwriting member of Lloyds for over 30 years.

Mr Tsavliris said: “I am honoured to have been chosen by the Executive Committee and members of the ISU to serve as Vice President.

“Salvage is in my blood and it is an industry I am passionate about. We provide a vital service to the shipping industry and I want to make sure that salvors and salvage are understood and valued in the marine world.

Of the 20,000 wrecks in U.S. waters, most are old and didn’t carry oil as fuel or cargo or are small recreational vessels with minimal fuel. But some more recent wrecks are thought to be substantially intact and, based on accident investigation reports and cargo records, have the potential to contain oil.

An initial screening of the full list of wrecks has been carried out to identify vessels built of steel or other durable material after 1915 and over 1000 gross tons and with tanks. It showed some 600 wrecks meeting these criteria.

This list is neither comprehensive, nor final, but illustrates the challenge to evaluate and prioritize risks to the US coastal economy and environment.

Inclusion on the priority list does not imply a substantial threat, nor does it mean that action will necessarily be taken to remove the wreck or its contents.

The US Coast Guard has primary responsibility for response and mitigation of pollution threats in the marine environment, including making the determination of a substantial threat. Many of these wrecks also have special protection under federal law as military gravesites or historic vessels.

Operations to remove pollutants from wrecks also provide valuable training opportunities for government and industry partners for future oil spills.

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Andreas Tsavliris

I look forward to working with Todd, the Executive Committee and the membership.”

T&T Bisso refloats sunken tug in Houston Ship Channel T&T BISSO used the crane barge CURTIS T to prepare the sunken tug for lifting after its dive team recovered the body of a missing crewmember onboard the vessel.

The vessel then was lifted to the surface by a derrick barge and dewatered. The 56-foot tug sank with five people aboard near the Sims Bayou turning basin.

Before the tug was refloated, the T&T BISSO dive team plugged all fuel vents and fill pipes to reduce the threat of pollution and performed a survey on the hull.

Once the vessel was successfully lifted to the surface and moved, a portion of the Ship Channel that had been closed was reopened to vessel traffic.

MEMBERS’ NEWSROUND Long service award at TSAVLIRIS In Feburary a presentation was made to a member of Tsavliris Salvage staff, Mr. Michalis Pagonis, for his staggering 60 years of loyal service to the Tsavliris family.

(See picture right) Mr. Pagonis was invited to the podium to receive a commemorative gift for his much appreciated lifetime services. Praising Mr Pagonis the Tsavliris family said: “Always willing to serve even beyond the call of duty, he enshrines the history, soul and conscience of our company. Loyal and trustworthy, yes above all loyalty.”

SMIT BOSKALIS merger set to go ahead In March Royal Boskalis Westminster NV shareholders approved the proposed merger with Smit Internationale NV. Its public offer for the shares in Smit became unconditional and 93.87% of Smit shares were tendered for acceptance of the offer.

A post closing acceptance period continues until mid-April for those shareholders who have not yet tendered their shares under the offer. SMIT chief executive, Ben Vree, was appointed to the management board of Boskalis for a four year term.

Separately, Smit Internationale NV has completed the acquisition of all shares of Minette Bay Ship Docking Ltd. in Prince Rupert, Canada. Minette Bay is active in the port of Prince Rupert with three ASD tugs.

BISSO improves safety BISSO MARINE has achieved ISO 9001:2008 certification of its Quality Management System. It is the first piece of an expanding certification program for the company. The certification covers dive

Obituary Ian Hoskison 1935 – 2010 One of the best known players in the marine salvage industry, Ian Hoskison, passed away in January in Suva, Fiji, following a battle against the asbestosinduced lung disease, Mesothelioma.

Ian was a member of the ISU’s Executive Committee from 1986 to 1994 and was involved in the negotiations leading to the 1989 Salvage Convention and the 1980, 1995 and 2000 Lloyd’s Open Form contracts and SCOPIC.

services, heavy lift services and additional support activities for the river, inshore, offshore and international operations relating to construction, salvage, diving, heavy lift, survey and transportation.

Bisso also announced that its Total Recordable Incident Rate for 2009 had fallen by 58 percent to 0.494 while the company increased total man hours worked by 4.5 percent.

“We strive daily to achieve the highest possible standards with safety being our top standards priority”, said President and Chief Executive Officer W.A. “Beau” Bisso IV. Noting the TRIR figures he added: “It reflects our dedicated effort to constantly raise the safety standards in all company positions.”

Donjon tug aquisition Donjon Marine, Co., Inc., has added the 2,700 hp twin screw tug Sarah Ann (ex-June K) to its expanding tug fleet. The 78 x 26 x 10.5-foot tug, with twin CAT 3512B diesels and a 9-foot draft, was built in 2003 by A&B Shipyard, Amelia, LA. Designed principally for ship handling and assist work; barge

Ian was born in the UK and went to sea in the late 1950s. He sailed with a number of shipping lines rising to chief engineer.

In 1968 he was made superintendent of S Berg Shipping which operated small tankers and introduced Ian to the South Pacific.

In 1971 he moved to Fiji where he was appointed general manager of the Marine Pacific group of companies and began his salvage career with fishing vessels and small island craft before his first major salvage, the Maplebank, in 1975.

towing and dredge assist, the tug’s draft is shallow enough to navigate the many creeks and estuaries throughout the Port of New York region where she will work. The tug’s upper pilothouse can be folded aft as required to allow for height restrictions.

Donjon-SMIT, LLC, an OPA-90 Alliance, has received unconditional approval from the U.S. Coast Guard for its Salvage, Marine Firefighting and Lightering Contract and Funding Agreement.

The Coast Guard’s full acceptance of the contract means that Donjon-SMIT, LLC now has the required approvals for a mechanism to contract with vessel owners needing salvage and marine response services required under OPA-90.

The company joined with Howard Smith and Adstream to form Austpac Salvage in 1981. It grew into United Salvage. Ian moved to Australia in 1983 for a spell as managing director of Inchcape South Pacific’s Marine Division.

He was joint managing director of United Salvage and then its salvage director until 2007. He was involved in more than 250 salvage operations including the Kirki, Iron Baron, Bunga Teratai Satu, the Jodi F Millenium and the Pasha Bulker.

Ian was buried at sea off the coast of Fiji.

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Pollution Prevention Survey 2009 – results The results of the ISU Pollution Prevention Survey for 2009 show a significant increase in the tonnages of pollutants salved in 2009 compared with 2008, despite a drop in the number of salvage services performed by members of the ISU. The total of all pollutants salved for 2009 increased to 1,022,730 tonnes compared with 2008’s total of 667,497 tonnes. It is a rise of 53% and pushes the average annual figure over the past 15 years to over a million tonnes per year.

In 2009, quantities of pollutants salved were up in all categories. However the number of services performed was 244, 5% down on the figure of 256 for 2008.

The main change from 2008 was in regard to the quantity of crude oil salved which rose by 61.5% to 743,506 tonnes in 2009.

This is accounted for by salvage services provided by ISU members to two large tankers.

“Other pollutants” also showed a significant rise of 57% from 40,030 tonnes in 2008 to 62,853 tonnes in 2009.

2008

2009

% variation

Number of services Crude oil salved Bunker fuel salved Chemicals salved Other pollutants Totals

256 460,023 86,078 81,366 40,030 667,497

244 743,506 102,631 113,740 62,853 1,022,730

-5% +61.5% +19% +38.5 +57% +53%

All figures in tonnes The Lloyd’s Open Form salvage contract was used in 56 services, there were 11 wreck removals, 39 Japanese form contracts, seven other forms of salvage contract were used and 131 services were carried out on a daily rate or fixed price basis. A total of 18 casualties needed to be lightened of their pollutants by ship to ship transfer.

Commenting on the results, ISU President, Todd Busch, said: “These numbers demonstrate clearly how our members’ work helps to prevent serious and damaging marine pollution. They also show how variable the work is from year to year with a drop in the number of services performed

Pollution Prevention Trends

but a large rise in the amount of pollution prevented. And they show how intervention in a small number of cases involving large amounts of, typically, crude oil, can affect the numbers.”

The ISU’s Pollution Prevention Survey began in 1994. In the 15 years to end-2009, ISU salvors have recovered 15,976,297 tonnes of potential pollutants, an average of over million tonnes per year. This consists of 12,418,000 tonnes of crude oil (and diesel oil); 977,363 tonnes of chemicals; 1,192,009 tonnes of bunker fuel and 1,388,909 tonnes of “other pollutants.”

2009 Pollution Prevention Results

2009 Total pollutants recovered: 1,022.730 tonnes (667,497 tonnes in 2008) 15,976,297 tonnes of potential pollutants recovered 1994 - 2009

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Nippon in beaching operation

A Hong Kong flagged cargo ship the Thor Ace was carrying some 11,000 tonnes of phosphate and chloride at the time of the accident in January. She was in danger of sinking when she sustained flooding in her No.1 cargo hold outside Kaohsiung Port, Taiwan. The cause is unknown.

In order to prevent the vessel sinking, Nippon salvage beached her using tugs. The No. 1 cargo hold and hatch coaming were completely in the water and the No. 2 cargo hold was at risk of flooding.

To prevent the second hold flooding the salvors made the hatch water-tight and damage to the vessel’s plates was sealed to enable pumping out. The salvors also successfully removed bunkers as required by the authorities.

The salvors then pressurised Thor Ace’s forepart compartments with air and lightered cargo from No. 1 hold.

The process of lightering cargo, pressurising the forepart compartments and beaching repeatedly with the tide continued until the hatch coaming came above water level and the vessel could be de-watered more thoroughly. The vessel was re-floated after just over two weeks.

Titan rescues prized horses TITAN Salvage carried out an unusual operation from a grounded 4,454 grt cargo vessel, recovering seven prized horses and 260 tons of heavy fuel oil and 59 containers before refloating her in São Miguel, Azores.

TITAN was awarded an LOF and deployed salvage master Stuart Miller, a team of 11 salvage specialists and two chartered planes loaded with equipment. The team discovered that three tanks and the engine room had been breached.

The operation was complex because the only way to get equipment onboard the ship was with tugboats, which had to get near the vessel in high winds and rough seas. The

horses were safely removed and taken to a local equestrian centre.

With the help of two local tugs and the ITC tug Mistral, the cargo vessel was successfully refloated from the rocky shores.

Elsewhere, TITAN has started work on the removal of the wreck of the 19,000 tonnes Vinca Gorthon for the Netherlands government. She lies 29 kilometres off the Dutch coast at a depth of 24.5 metres in a very busy shipping traffic lane. The vessel protrudes 10 metres from the sea bed and has become a danger to modern ships with a draft of 15 metres or more.

operation. The KARLISSA-B has a 272 metric tonnes capacity platform ringer crane. The barges can load over 900 metric tonnes and are adaptable to accommodate upwards of 1,350 metric tonnes of vertical lift or 130 metric tonnes of lateral pull utilizing TITAN pullers.

TITAN is using the KARLISSA-A and KARLISSA-B jack-up barges for the

Mammoet Salvage refloats grounded Bulker in the River Plate.

Mammoet Salvage continued its southern hemisphere operations with the successful refloating of the 75,476 dwt bulk carrier Yue Dian 82.

Loaded to the maximum draft restriction for the Parana River, the vessel, carrying 52,000 tonnes of iron ore, suffered engine problems and ran aground in the River Plate at Punta Indio in January.

Mammoet Salvage immediately dispatched a salvage team and obtained all necessary permits within 24 hours.

The dredger Nina working alongside the bulker Yue Dian 82.

To save time and to preserve the cargo, 5

Mammoet contracted the dredger Nina which dredged a channel between the grounding area and the approach channel.

In the meantime the tugs Ciclon, Ona Don Lorenzo and Argentino II were mobilized to the casualty.

In spite of a short but violent storm, Mammoet’s team managed to safely refloat the vessel 36 hours after the starting the dredging operations and without the need to transfer any of her cargo.

After redelivery an underwater inspection took place at Buenos Aires roads and the Yue Dian 82 continued and delivered her cargo.

Gigilinis in action in the English Channel The salvage tug HELLAS of Gigilinis Salvage & Towage successfully completed two salvage operations in February in the English Channel.

The Gigilinis tug sailed from her position on the south west coast of England on receiving the request for assistance and made contact with the casualty some 14 hours later. The weather conditions

were not favourable but assistance was successfully given and the casualty was eventually towed to Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where she was delivered to her owners.

In the first case, the HELLAS assisted a vessel experiencing main engine problems off the south west coast of England. The tug deployed to the casualty, the MV RMS Lagonia, at Tor Bay, UK, following a request for assistance. She made contact with the inland waterway vessel approximately 10 hours later. After connection, the casualty was towed to Plymouth, UK and was safely delivered to her owners.

A similar operation involved a container vessel, the Karsnes, with main engine problems off the northern coast of France.

ASSOCIATES’ NEWSROUND New associate members The following organisations have recently been accepted as Associate Members of the ISU: Wikborg Rein, an international commercial law firm with offices in Oslo, Bergen, London, Kobe, Singapore and Shanghai. The firm has 65 lawyers servicing the shipping and offshore sector including 15 lawyers in its English law team.

Contact: Simon Tatham, partner, Cheapside House, 138 Cheapside, London, EC2V6HS. Phone: +44 207 367 0300 email: srt@wrco.co.uk Morten Lund Mathisen, partner, Kronprinsesse Marthas pl. 1, 0160 Oslo Phone: +47 22 82 75 00 email: mlm@wr.no website: www.wr.no Hapo International Barges BV specialises in crane barge operations worldwide, ship breaking in the Netherlands and on location globally and equipment hire.

Contact: Gerben Snoek, Johan Poot, Ringdijk 486, 2980 BB Ridderkerk, The Netherlands Phone: +31 180 414 671 fax: +31 180 418 596 email: info@hapobarges.com website: www.hapobarges.com

C-MAR Consultants is a Marine Services Company. The Group has historically been focussed on the offshore marine industry, however with the formation of the Marine Consultancy division, now provides a range of surveying, expert witness and casualty management services to the wider marine industry.

Contact: Captain Keith Hart, HQS Wellington, Temple Stairs,Victoria Embankment, London, WC2R 2PN Phone: +44 207 632 9090 fax: +44 207 340 2734 email: keith.hart@c-mar.com website: www.c-mar.com BIMCO and WRECHIRE 99 Work is well underway on a revision to BIMCO’s daily hire wreck removal contract WRECKHIRE 99. ISU Secretary General, Mike Lacey, Titan Salvage’s Mark Hodinott and Smit’s Reinder Peek are leading for the salvors on the BIMCO drafting committee set up for the revisions.

ITS Vancouver Organisers of the International Tug and Salvage Convention 2010 in Vancouver, 17 – 21 May say delegate numbers are set to break the 500 barrier for the very first time.

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And some 50 countries will be represented.

In addition, there are more than 100

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exhibiting companies from 20 countries.

This year’s Convention will take place at the five-star Westin Bayshore, which is located on the waterfront in downtown Vancouver.

The majority of delegates will be staying at this hotel, giving opportunity for networking, not only during the Conference itself but also ‘out of hours’.

The deadline for preferential room rates for delegates is 16 April. Register for the Convention online at www.tugandsalvage. com or call the organisers on +44 (0) 1225 868821.

International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) - new Chairman Mike Ball has been elected to succeed Chris Fisher as chairman of the IBIA from April 2010. Currently manager of the bunker department at Gearbulk (UK) Ltd, Ball has extensive experience as a seagoing engineer officer and is a former director of H Clarksons, with responsibility for its bunker broking desk.

Moore Stephens International accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens has strengthened its shipping industry risk management services capability following a merger with AHL Business Assurance Limited, a specialist provider of governance, risk and internal audit services.

Svitzer Papua New Guinea operation In February SVITZER Salvage attended the motor tanker MV Quinn to assist her after grounding on a remote Reef to the East of Papua New Guinea.

towed to safety. Dive inspection revealed grounding damage including damage to the rudder and propeller. Hull damage

was temporarily repaired and the rudder secured for passage to a repair port.

Left:The MV Quinn was pushed aground by strong winds while she had been at anchor carrying out engine repairs.

SVITZER Salvage Australasia, through Pacific Towing (PNG), secured a Lloyd’s Open Form with the vessel’s owners.

A small salvage team was mobilised to the vessel by aircraft and helicopter and met by a company tug for the refloating operation.

The vessel was successfully refloated and

T&T Bisso refloats bulker T&T BISSO successfully refloated a bulk carrier that ran aground near Gwadar Port in Pakistan.

Led by Salvage Master V. Seva, T&T BISSO mobilized a salvage team that included a naval architect and dive team, along with a high-horsepower tug, to refloat the grounded vessel carrying 50,000 tonnes of urea fertilizer.

The crew safely refloated the 190-meter bulk carrier during high tide without having to lighter bunkers or cargo. The vessel and cargo were delivered to its owners with no damage to the environment.

Donjon-Smit emergency tow In January Donjon-SMIT, LLC, an OPA-90 Alliance assisted the Tavricheski Bridge which had broken a main engine camshaft and lost propulsion 60 miles Southeast of Nantucket in the North Atlantic.

The vessel, a 50,300 grt tanker, was carrying 32,500 tonnes of Naptha. The weather was calm. The Donjon Marine Co., Inc. tug Atlantic Salvor, located in Albany, NY, was contracted under a BIMCO TOWHIRE 2008 contract to conduct a rescue tow.

After a 22-hour transit including a brief stop for fuel, the Atlantic Salvor arrived at the casualty’s location and at first light was connected and proceeded underway to Stapelton Anchorage in New York Harbor for re-delivery.

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INTERNATIONAL MONITOR Chile earthquake In February a massive earthquake struck Chile. There was extensive damage both from the quake and the ensuing Tsunami wave which battered the coast. The quake was so powerful that the city of Concepcion was moved three metres westwards. Some 500 people lost their lives.

ISU Executive Committee Member and Chilean salvor Ultratug’s General Manager, Alfred Hubner, described the destruction and loss of communication. He was staying on the coast with family when the Tsunami hit – but thankfully their accommodation was 20 metres above sea level.

Mr Hubner said: “With the exception of the Talcahuano area, where the Ultramar office was destroyed, fortunately there is no major material damage to our installations, enabling us to resume promptly our normal work. Things are gradually improving, but there is still an immense amount of work to be done to get things back to normal in the affected area.”

Haiti earthquake A powerfull earthquake hit the Caribbean country of Haiti in January. It caused appalling loss of life and injury and extensive damage. The port area of capital city Port au Prince was severely affected. American marine organisations including ISU members

were quick to assist the stricken population.

A TITAN Salvage team conducted a survey of the port to map navigable routes and determine what underwater obstacles needed to be removed to allow cargo to enter.

TITAN then worked to remove navigational hazards, including the collapsed Washington gantry crane (see below) in an effort to increase cargo throughput in the heavily damaged port.

cruise liner crashed into a pier while docking at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh in February.

The vessel which was carrying about 1,400 passengers was holed to starboard as a result of the accident. Bad weather was a contributory factor.

Costa Europa had been on an 18-day cruise from Dubai to Savona in Italy.

Chemical disaster averted in New York Harbour Prompt intervention averted the risk of a toxic material release from a chemical carrier anchored in Gravesend Bay near Brooklyn, New York in February.

During cargo transfer operations, the 443-foot chemical carrier Sichem Defiance sustained an implosion on board.

The TITAN team, led by Salvage Master Roy Dodgen, used Resolve Marine Services’ 142-foot crane barge RMG300 to help clear debris and other navigational hazards.

Additionally, TITAN hired Associated Marine Salvage’s 150-foot crane barge MB1215 to help position two Crowley deck barges as floating piers.

Cruise liner accident in Egypt Three seafarers were killed and four tourists injured after the Costa Europa

The main deck over a cargo tank collapsed and adjacent bulkheads were breached. The ship’s cargo consisted of benzene LAB and ethanol, a dangerously volatile liquid. The US Coastguard dispatched a response team from its Atlantic Strike Team based at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Casualty response engineers went aboard and worked with the authorities to mitigate the potential threat to the crew and the local population by preventing further damage.

Multraship Black Sea refloat Multraship Salvage and SVITZER Salvage refloated the Russian-flag cargo ship Irtysh 1after it had ran aground on the rocky coastline off the Bulgarian Black Sea coast near Bourgas.

The 2,913 dwt 1996-built vessel ran aground near Cape Foros in February after strong winds and waves reportedly broke its anchor and drove it towards the coast.

At the time of the incident, the vessel, which operates between Greece and Romania, was sailing in ballast, with 35 tons of bunkers on board.

After several days during which the ship’s interests made unsuccessful attempts of their own to free the vessel, Multraship and SVITZER were engaged to undertake the operation. Mobilising four tugs from Multraship’s dedicated base in the port of Bourgas and a salvage team from SVITZER,

salvors managed to refloat the vessel and tow it into port, where an inspection of the hull was made.

Multraship set up operations in Bulgaria in 2005 after buying Bourgas Tug Services as part of a targeted business expansion plan 8

and as a demonstration of its interest both in Bulgaria and in the greater Black Sea region. Its market share of harbour towage, its main area of activity at the port, has since grown more than five-fold. It currently has a staff of more than seventy people, and a fleet of seven vessels stationed in the area.

Cretan operation for TSAVLIRIS In January the MT Athina, 12,733 dwt, dragged her anchors when in ballast off southern Crete and grounded 20 metres from the rocky shoreline.

TSAVLIRIS dispatched the salvage tug MEGAS ALEXANDROS from Piraeus to assist. All bunkers and pollutants were quickly transferred to the sub-contracted oil recovery anti-pollution vessel, AEGIS. A divers’ inspection showed that rocks had penetrated the ship’s bottom but she was successfully refloated and towed to anchorage for full underwater inspection. Bad weather forced the convoy, including the tug Hector, to adopt a controlled drift until the conditions improved and anchors were dropped off Kali Limenes allowing the inspection to take place.

Shortly afterwards the convoy proceeded to Piraeus where bad weather delayed entry to harbour before the bunkers and pollutants were pumped back aboard and the Athina was safely redelivered to her owners.

SMIT round up The tanker Eco Africa, 150,000 dwt, was discharging crude oil at a terminal in the Gulf of Suez when a fire broke out in the engine room.

SMIT Salvage was contracted by the owners to assist under a LOF contract. A salvage team was immediately sent from Rotterdam along with fire-fighting equipment.

SMIT’s local joint venture company provided an AHTS, supported by two local tugs used for boundary cooling of the casualty which was towed to the outer anchorage where the fire was extinguished.

Water was then pumped out of the engine room into one of the vessel’s empty cargo tanks and, after preservation treatment Photos: SMIT

of the engines, the Eco Africa was safely redelivered to her owners.

In January SMIT Salvage recovered all pollutants from the sunken general cargo vessel Asian Forest off Mangalore, India.

The wreck was lying in a water depth of 32 metres.

A dive inspection was carried out to locate all the accessible tanks for hot tapping and equipment and staff mobilized from Rotterdam and Singapore. The oil recovery was successfully completed in the second half of January. The job was conducted under a lumpsum agreement.

Also under a lumpsum contract in January, SMIT Salvage was asked to remove the wreck of the general cargo vessel MV Tanto Niaga which capsized inside the port limits

of Surabaya, Indonesia in May 2009.

SMIT mobilized the AHT SMIT Belait and sheerlegs SMIT Cyclone. The first priority of the operation was removal of all oil and pollutants from the wreck, which was completed successfully before the wreck was cut into six sections and the superstructure using chain cutting by the sheerlegs.

Other recent SMIT cases include refloating the container vessel CSCL Hamburg under LOF in Egypt in January and the salvage of the Mercury K and Furness Melbourne off Morocco, these projects were undertaken as co-contractor with the Nippon Salvage company under LOF contracts.

SMIT Salvage was also involved with refloating the jack up Trident 17 rig offshore Malaysia using 2 AHT vessels.

Lifting a section of the MV Tanto Niaga

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Resolve responds toTexas spill An emergency response team from Resolve Salvage and Fire (Americas), Inc. responded to a call from an OPA 90-client after a crude oil tanker, Eagle Otome, was in collision with a barge at Port Arthur in the Sabine-Neches Waterway, Texas.

The barge penetrated two of the fully laden, 95,663 dwt tanker’s forward tanks. Locked together and grounded across the narrow channel, the casualty vessels blocked navigation to nearby refineries. Several local communities had begun evacuation.

RESOLVE’S salvage master, Francis Leckey worked closely with the Coast Guard and the Incident Command System’s Unified Command.

A salvage plan was developed to safely employ portable transfer pumps and the tanker’s internal pumping systems to lower cargo levels within the breached tanks.

In preliminary surveys, high levels of H2S and flammable vapors were detected.

During pumping operations fire-fighting foam was applied in the breached tanks and

intrinsically safe air fans used to disperse toxic vapors and reduce explosive gas concentrations.

terminal and continued to monitor safety conditions as the remaining cargo was discharged.

Crude oil and flood water were pumped from the tanker’s heavily damaged tanks while dozens of response contractors worked to contain oil that had spilled into the waterway.

In the same incident, T&T MARINE SALVAGE helped clean up the oil spill by mobilizing 50 personnel; 20,000 feet of spill boom, a 1,500-bbl skimming vessel and other equipment. It also assisted in transferring the tank barge’s chemical cargo to another barge.

The tanker was moved out of the channel, and RESOLVE escorted her to a nearby

ISU Associate Members’ Day 2010

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