Ship still stuck
2003-08-20 22:46
Cape Town - Yet another attempt to refloat the Sealand Express has failed dismally.
Earlier on Wednesday night, water ballast was pumped from the container ship stranded in Table Bay in a bid to lighten her for a re-floating attempt.
The attempt was made at high tide about 21:20.
Clint Eisenhauer, spokesperson for the vessel's operators, US Ship Management, said from the United States on Wednesday that it was hoped that the improving weather would help the salvage operation.
Cape Town has been battered by a cold front with gale-force winds, snow and towering seas.
A Smit Marine salvage team had been working to free the vessel from the sandbar she grounded on off Milnerton's Sunset Beach on Tuesday morning, after dragging an anchor.
Eisenhauer said preparations were being made to transfer the fuel oil from the vessel.
"That transfer is being staged to begin some time during Thursday," he said.
No spills
Eisenhauer stressed that "there have been no spills or environmental breaches from the vessel".
His statement came as government and other agencies in Cape Town went on standby to combat any oil spill from the Sealand Express, which has 3 700 tons of fuel oil in her tanks.
Marine and Coastal management head Horst Kleinschmidt said he had asked the Blaauwberg Municipality to bulldoze sand across the mouth of a small estuary to the north of the stricken vessel.
Booms were also placed across the mouth of the lagoon at Woodbridge Island south of the Sealand Express.
Both measures are intended to stop oil entering and polluting these areas.
Kleinschmidt said he had also alerted the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, better known as Sanccob, to be on standby for any injured or oil-soaked penguins or gannets.
Top priority
An independent maritime expert, who wanted to remain anonymous, said removal of the ship's fuel was a "top priority".
This would probably be done by floating a pipe from the vessel to one of the big salvage tugs, and pumping the fuel into the tug's tanks, he said.
Removal of the fuel would cause the ship to float about half a metre higher, which could be crucial in pulling her off the sand.
He said the ship's going aground on a high tide, caused her bottom to be well buried in the sand.
"We're now past the spring high and heading for neap, so in theory each day that goes by means the high tide is not quite so high.
"This means the longer the salvage operation takes, the more difficult the task will become. And the longer she lies there, the more chance of damage."
Containers
He said trying to remove the cargo "is problematic".
"Those full boxes (containers) weigh 20 tons, and the ship appears to have no on-board crane. Lifting that sort of weight with a helicopter is out of the question.
"I doubt they'd consider risking the port's floating crane for such an operation - it has a draught of four metres, and such an operation would be very dangerous," the expert said.
Kleinschmidt said an operations meeting involving "all the parties that have a stake in the operation" was set for Thursday.
Investigation
Meanwhile, officials from the United States Coastguard are reportedly on their way to South Africa to investigate the stranding.
Operations manager of the South African Maritime Safety Authority, Captain Bill Dernier, said the Americans were expected on Wednesday or Thursday.
Samsa would hold a preliminary inquiry, but because the ship was under an American flag, her master was under US jurisdiction.
Samsa had the power to ban a master from entering South African waters again, but this would be difficult to enforce.
The Coastguard, on the other hand, could implement sanctions ranging from a reprimand to taking away a master's ticket.
However in the Sealand Express' case, there might be justifiable reasons for the grounding. "We haven't asked those questions yet," he said.
Samsa had asked Cape Town port control to put aside for safekeeping the recordings of the radio contact between the ship and the port tower on the day of the stranding.