Østensjø Rederi`s 88 ton bollard pull, reverse tractor tug, THORAX supports the salvage effort. Image: MCA Media
The UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) reports “good progress continues to be made” today as salvors aboard the Hoegh Osaka have reduced the vessel’s list to starboard to 25 degrees, or roughly half of what it was 19 days ago.
The agency says all water has been removed from the car decks and as ballast operations continue throughout the day, the ship will hopefully further reduce her list to 15 – 20 degrees. At this point MAIB investigators will board the ship to gather information for their investigation and subsequently, a skeleton ship’s crew will be permitted to board the ship in preparation for its move back to Southampton Port.
The crew will attempt to restart the vessel’s emergency generator which will be used to provide power to the installed ballast pumps, the tank metering systems, lighting and the ship’s windlasses to recover the anchor and approximately 220 meters of chain which has been deployed.
Salvors will consider a multitude of factors before moving the ship from Alpha Anchorage to the port of Southampton such as the stability of the ship, the restart of the vessel’s system, tide and weather conditions. The MCA says they are looking to reduce the list of the vessel to 5 degrees or lower before bringing it into port as anything greater than that will complicate the future offload of the cargo.
Once back in port, the salvors will being turning the vessel back over to the owners, Höegh Autoliners, over an estimated 2 to 3 day period. This process will include discussions with the vessel’s insurers as well as the port of Southampton. Subsequent to that, the cargo offload will commence.
The MCA expects the tow from Alpha Anchorage to Southampton to take four hours and involve the use of four tugs, the Salvage Master, the ship’s captain and two pilots. The actual timing of the tow is dependent on the weather over the next few days, once the list is reduced.
Photo courtesy and (c) Gary Davies/Maritime Photographic
Update: The Hoegh Osaka has been safely berthed at 101 Berth at Western Docks Southampton.
Earlier: The Hoegh Osaka car carrier has departed the Alpha Anchorage in the Solent and is underway to the Port of Southamption.
The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency reported Thursday that salvors were able to reduce the list to just 5 degrees, down from 25 degrees on Wednesday.
The ship is now under tow to Berth 101 in Southampton Port. The tow is expected to take about 3 hours. The vessel’s departure was scheduled for 1545 GMT.
According to the Southampton VTS, the towing operation is to be conducted by 4 tugs secured to the Hoegh Osaka, under the control of the operation’s Salvage Master and assisted by 2 ABP Southampton Pilots. The tow is expected to proceed at a speed of approximately 4 knots.
During the tow, there is an exclusion zone being enforced approximately 1,000 meters ahead and behind the vessel and 100 meters on either side. An exclusion zone has also been placed in the airspace, approximately 1 mile on either side of the navigation route and up to 2,000 feet.
The tow comes nearly 3 weeks after the vessel grounded on the Bramble Bank after developing a severe list shortly after departing Southampton with approximately 1,400 cars. The vessel self-floated from the bank on January 7 and was moved to the nearby Alpha Anchorage, where salvors from Svitzer have worked to reduce the list by pumping water from the vessel.
The Hoegh Osaka car carrier under tow back to Southampton, January 22, 2015. Photo (c) D.M. Smith
A map of the tow route is below:
Full Coverage: Hoegh Osaka Grounding
Hoegh Osaka being towed to Southampton
One more ship stuck in Southampton waters
While all the attention has been focused on the Hoegh Osaka, another vessel has been grounded inSouthampton water.
G Poseidon, also a roll on/roll off vehicle carrier ship, has been grounded at the Southampton docks for a week, due to sustained damaged resulting in a hole in its hull.
According to a dock source, the ship underwent serious difficulties due to bad sea conditions and a portion of its cargo broke free thus causing the above-mentioned damage.
The vessel was built back in 2011 for South Korean ship management firm, Doriko, and has a weight of 72, 408 tons and a length of 232 m. Last Friday it made it back into port at 7 am, where the damage was determined and it is now awaiting to be repaired.
According to the source, the vessel
“had some cargo shift on board and some high heavy cargo managed to break free due to the rough seas and caused some damage. Currently, the ship is being assessed for the necessary repairs.”
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