Ship: Bid to remove leaking drum
2003-08-22 12:40
Cape Town - Salvors will try to remove a leaking drum of flammable chemical from the stranded Sealand Express, spokesperson for the vessel's operators Evelyn Holtzhausen said on Friday.
He said the leak, believed to be from a single drum inside one of the 1 037 containers on the vessel, was noticed before the Sealand Express went aground in Table Bay on Tuesday.
"It will be a broken seal, or sweating: it's like a very slow dripping tap," he said.
The volatile acetate evaporated virtually on contact with the air. The leak did not pose a major safety risk.
"It is highly inflammable, but it's not near anything combustible," he said.
On the advice of a chemical engineer, salvors Smit Marine would on Friday pump carbon dioxide gas into the container to neutralise the acetate fumes before entering with oxygen masks and protective clothing to try to remove the drum.
The container was not difficult to reach, he said.
The removal of 3 700 tons of fuel oil from the stranded vessel began about midnight on Thursday, spokesperson for the salvors Clare Gomes said on Friday.
A string of hoses was assembled at Cape Town harbour to pump the fuel to a waiting tug.
"They are pumping as we speak," she said.
Conditions were favourable for the operation, she said.
Smit Marine and the vessel's owners hope that the removal of the fuel will lighten the ship enough for it to be towed off the sandy bottom at Sunset Beach in Table Bay, where it grounded on Tuesday morning.
The fuel removal, which under ideal conditions can be carried out at a rate of about 50 tons an hour, is expected to take several days.
The operation could be hampered by a pair of cold fronts expected to hit Cape Town at the weekend.
- SAPA