Kiperousa breaking up

2005-08-22 20:50

Johannesdurg - The bulk carrier stranded on the coast near East London and her heavy cargo are causing concern as bad weather hampers the removal of potentially hazardous logs.

The hull of the Kiperousa was already showing cracks and breaking up while salvors went about the "slow, risky business" of removing the logs from the hull, said SA maritime safety authority spokesperson Peter Kroon.

Attempts to refloat the 14 921-ton log carrier were abandoned last month.

National Ports Authority spokesperson Terry Taylor said there was no choice in the matter as repeated efforts to pull the stranded vessel off the Bhenga reef south of Hamburg, using some of the most powerful tugs available, were unsuccessful.

The ship was on its way from Gabon to Durban to take on fuel oil before making its way to the Far East, when it ran aground on June 7.

Waves

Kroon said the salvors had to be very careful as they went about removing the almost 6 000 logs as the bad weather often saw waves washing right across the deck.

He said they did not want the logs to fall into the water as they could be potentially hazardous to passing ships, but that it was not an immediate concern.

Taylor said there was no immediate danger of the ship's condition deteriorating so rapidly and to such an extent overnight that the logs would enter the sea.

He said the Kiperousa had taken some strain on the rocks, but had a solid structure and the salvors were comfortable that they would be able to remove the logs.

Speeding up operation

There was currently one barge ferrying up to 70 logs at a time into East London.

Another barge from Dubai, capable of carrying up to 400 logs at a time, was being brought in to speed up the operation.

"There is no crisis at the moment, but we have to get the logs off.

"The challenge is to get them off as soon as possible," said Taylor, who estimated that the operation would take about two months.

He said that while a big storm might see the ship break up faster than expected, the salvors were confident they would "beat the sea".

About 2 000 logs had been brought into East London and it was up to the owners and insurance companies to decide whether to sell the logs locally, or bring in another ship to take the logs to the Far East.

- SAPA