TSAVLIRIS SALVAGE GROUP - News & Announcements
Bulker Incidents Mark Busy June for TSAVLIRIS - 2006 Sep 17
Bulk carrier incidents have provided the lion's share of the work in early summer for the TSAVLIRIS SALVAGE GROUP, the leading international emergency contractor. In the latest of these, TSAVLIRIS was engaged under a Lloyd's Open Form (LOF) to salve the "CONRAD OLDENDORFF", a modern panamax bulker laden with coking coal from Gdansk to Egypt, that ran aground south of Bornholm island in Denmark.
Local tugs "STEVNS ICECAP" and "STEVNS ICEFLOWER" were engaged to assist together with a salvage team from Greece although an inspection soon showed that the vessel could not be refloated purely by pulling. A bunker barge was hired from Copenhagen to take off the casualty's bunkers, and the geared bulker "CREDO" was brought in from the North Sea for lightering purposes. After removal of about 7,500 tonnes of cargo, the vessel was successfully refloated and, following reloading of bunkers and cargo, the "CONRAD OLDENDORFF" was able to resume her voyage.
In another significant June case, TSAVLIRIS led a successful salvage and repair operation to assist the laden capesize bulker "SETSUYO STAR", which was forced to seek shelter just off the South African coast after the discovery of frame damage in the area of the No.1 hold. In an operation that was carried out to the satisfaction of the South African marine safety authorities and environmental groups, TSAVLIRIS brought in the tug "SMIT AMANDLA" of co-salvor SMIT SOUTH AFRICA together with an array of anti-pollution and pumping equipment on standby. Structural repairs were performed by local repair yard DORMAC. By July 4, the "SETSUYO STAR" was able to continue on her voyage from Brazil to China carrying about 166,000 tonnes of iron ore.
A third bulk carrier to be salved by TSAVLIRIS in June was the panamax "LONG HAI" which was immobilized 140 miles off Colombo while on a voyage ftrom Singapore to India laden with a cargo of 60,000 tonnes of coal. After agreement of a LOF contract, the TSAVLIRIS-operated salvage tug "SB-408" sailed from her station in Sri Lanka to assist the casualty and the vessel was safely towed to Colombo. A novel case off Sri Lanka the same month saw TSAVLIRIS contracted on LOF terms for three separate vessels with ITC as co-salvor. They came about when the tug "SEA DIAMOND 7" suffered engine room flooding and was abandoned by her crew while the tug was towing two barges from Singapore to the Middle East Gulf.
ITC's tug "SUMATRAS" stood by the casualties although she was already fully engaged towing two newbuilding hulls. Tsavliris' "SB-408", the only available salvage tug in a very wide area, was dispatched from Colombo and arrived the following night. Although a salvage crew boarded the "SEA DIAMOND 7" and tried to control the flooding this was shortly before the tug finally sank. The "SB-408" was, however, successful in attaching wires to the barges "SIKINOS" and "SKOPELOS II" which were towed safely to the port of Trincomalee.