Posted On: 17-11-2020
Chinese rescue and salvage company Lianyungang Dali Underwater Engineering has won a contract to remove the stern section of the Wakashio bulker from a reef off Mauritius’ coast. The salvage firm is currently mobilizing assets and equipment replica watches and is scheduled to start work on the removal operation in late December. The work on the removal of the wreck’s stern is expected to complete in the spring of 2021, Nagashiki Shipping Co, owner of the ill-fated bulker, said. A detailed plan of the operation is yet to be agreed with the Mauritian authorities in the upcoming talks on the operation, the Japanese shipowner explained. To remind, the Japanese Capesize bulker ran aground on a reef off Mauritius on July 25 and the vessel broke apart on August 15, causing a major fuel spill. Around 1,000 tonnes of oil are estimated to have leaked from the wreck, in what is considered the worst oil spill in the history of Mauritius. “Of the approximately, 1,000 tons of oil that spilled from the vessel, the oil that was floating on the surface of the sea has been recovered, and currently we are working on removing the oil that had washed ashore for approximately 30 kilometers along the coast,” Nagashiki Shipping said in an update. The company estimates that the removal work will be completed in January 2021. Wakashio’s bow was sent out to its final resting place on August 24 following a scuttling operation that saw the ship’s front sunk in Mauritian waters. The Mauritian authorities called bids for the removal of the aft section of the casualty shortly after the scuttling of the bulker’s bow. China-based Lianyungang Dali Underwater Engineering signed the contract for the ship’s aft removal on October 20. Meanwhile, the investigation into the cause of the accident continues, and the captain and the chief officer of the vessel have been arrested on charges of jeopardizing the safety of navigation. Nagashiki said it was fully cooperating with the local authorities on the investigation.
(Credits: www.offshore-energy.biz)
