Salvage & Towage Services - Operations Reference List 2006
- Motor Tanker "ASSOS"
On the 2nd of September the 47,000-dwt oil tanker "ASSOS" required professional salvage assistance while approaching her destination at New York and laded with cargo of naphtha she became immobilized due to propulsion failure. TSAVLIRIS who was engaged under Lloyds Open Form assisted in the STS cargo transfer. The tugs, "ATLANTIC SALVOR", "MARY ALICE" and "KENDALL BRAKE" assisted the vessel, which was subsequently shifted to a repair berth at New York harbour and was redelivered to her owners on the 15th of September.
- Bulker "ALTAIR"
One more Lloyds Open Form was signed for TSAVLIRIS SALVAGE with the owners of 64,120 Dwt bulker "ALTAIR" on the 1st of September. The vessel was in laden condition, steaming northbound into Khawr Abd Allah channel, from Rostock to Umm Qasr for discharging her cargo of 50.1590 MT wheat and she run aground south of buoy number 14 of the Umm Qasr/Iraq navigating channel.
TSAVLIRIS immediately dispatched the S/T "SB-408" from her salvage station at Mumbai and the "CAPTAIN MICHALIS" from Dubai and successfully refloated the vessel on the 8th of September. Next day she was then redelivered to her owners at Umm Qasr.
- Panamax Vessel 'CONRAD OLDENDORFF'
The "CONRAD OLDENDORFF", a Panamax vessel laden with coking coal from Gdansk to Egypt, run aground south of the island of Bornholm in Denmark. TSAVLIRIS was given the LOF on the 27th of June. Local tugs "STEVNS ICECAP" and "STEVNS ICEFLOWER" were engaged to assist together with a salvage team from Greece.
Inspection showed that the vessel could not be refloated by pulling. Bunker barge "HAAR TRUMF" was mobilized from Copenhagen to take the bunkers of the casualty, and geared bulker "CREDO" was brought in from the North Sea for lightering purposes. After removal of about 7,500 tons of cargo, the vessel was successfully refloated. Lightened cargo and bunkers were reloaded to the casualty and she was safely redelivered on the 2nd of July to resume her voyage.
- LPG "DOLLART GAS"
The LPG "DOLLART GAS" laden with 230 M/T of ethylene was immobilized due to main engine failure at north Taiwan strait. The S/T "HUACAI" was hired from Fuzhou. Casualty was towed under opponent weather conditions to Kadhsiung under anchorage where convoy arrived on the 16th of July.
Vessel safely delivered to owners on 18th July.
- Motor Tanker "FIDELITY"
M/T "FIDELITY" ran aground at Rio Parana of Argentina. She was laden with 32.176.MT SoyaBean Oil from San Loretzo and Rosario to China. TSAVLIRIS was awarded the LOF contract to refloat her. Immediately local personnel and two tugs were contracted to proceed on site. The vessel was grounded on the mad perpendicular to the river. The strong current affected the ship considerable and made difficult all refloating operations.
After four days of refloating attempts the vessel refloated and redelivery to her owners safely commences for her voyage again.
- Bulk Carrier "ARIEL"
The BC "ARIEL" laden with 29000 metric tons of Alumina was immobilized off Goa due to mechanical failure. Vessel was drifted to a NEasterly direction approximately 30 mm per day. The salvage tug "SB-408" was dispatched from Colombo. "ARIEL" was towed under opponent weather conditions to Kandla.
The convoy remained at under anchorage of Kandla awaiting instructions by the port authorities to enter in port and deliver the vessel to the owners.
- Barges "SIKINOS" & "SKOPELOS III"
Another case for TSAVLIRIS were the two barges "SIKINOS" and "SKOPELOS III" contracted on LOF terms with ITC as cosalvor. They came about when the tug "SEA DIAMOND 7" suffered engine room flooding and was abandoned by her crew while the tug was towing the 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" was dispatched from Colombo and arrived the following night. The SB-408 was successful in attaching wires to the barges "SIKINOS" and "SKOPELOS III" which were towed safely to the port of Trincomalee.
- Bulk Carrier "LONG HAI"
A 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.
- Floating Doack "AL RUFFA II"
At the beginning of November TSAVLIRIS engaged to tow the newly built floating dock "AL RUFAA II". TSAVLIRIS offered her S/T "MEGAS ALEXANDROS" and S/T "SB-408" for the towage operation. The transit voyage agreed on the 15th of November, was scheduled to commence with S/T "MEGAS ALEXANDROS" from Elefsis bay, Piraeus to Port Said Suez and then from Suez to Qatar to be completed by the S/T "SB-408".
The operation was successfully concluded on the 4th of January with TSAVLIRIS securing "AL RUFAA II" at jetty.
- Motor Tanker "ATROPOS"
On the 10th of Decemebr, TSAVLIRIS also assisted the Motor Tanker "ATROPOS", when a tug line tangled in her propeller. TSAVLIRIS offered the S/T "LEOPARD" which sailed from Mindelo - Cape Verde islands to assist the casualty.
Due to heavy swell and adverse weather conditions diving operations were difficult. On the 14th of December the foul propeller finally was clear and M/T "ATROPOS' was delivered to Dakar on the same date.
- Bulk Carrier "LA JOLLA"
The panamax bulk carrier M/V "LA JOLLA", 72,126Dwt, was found in ballast condition due to sustained rudder damage. TSAVLIRIS sailed her S/T "MEGAS ALEXANDROS" on the 15h of December to assist the casualty under agreement and provide towage operation to the vessel from El Dekheila - Egypt to Piraeus in Greece.
On the 22nd of December her safe delivery was accomplished.
- Motor LPG Carrier "KEW BRIDGE"
TSAVLIRIS S/T "SB-408" sailed from her station at Fujairah (UAE) on 14th of October at 14.20 hrs UTC and arrived Ratnagiri on the 18th of October to assist "KEW BRIDGE" in laden condition with no rudder and propeller. S/T "SB-408" connected with her towing line alongside "KEW BRIDGE" and awaited port clearance.
On the 4th of November S/T "SB-408" commenced towing "KEW BRIDGE" to Dubai, where delivered on the 16th of November.
- Rig "SEDCO 709"
The "FOTIY KRYLOV" immediately went on hire to Houston based Transocean Sedco Forex for towage of another major drilling unit, the semi-submersible "SEDCO 709". Utilizing two engines and partly the rig's thrusters, "FOTIY KRYLOV" completed the 2,451 mile towage from Saldanha Bay, South Africa, to a position off Nigeria in 20 days, achieving an average speed of 5.29 knots.
The "SEDCO 709" with a length of 91 metres and breadth of 80 metres, was delivered on October 5th.
- Rig "STENA TAY"
"FOTIY KRYLOV" one of the world's largest pair of salvage tugs, was engaged by Total Nigeria for the towage of the state-of-the-art drilling rig "STENA TAY" from Brownsville, USA, to Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The towage of the 127 - metre long and 71 metre wide rig, which can drill to depths of more than 8,000 metres, was successfully performed from June 18th to August 23rd.
During the towage, the tug's three main engines were used as well as the rig's thrusters.
- Bulk Carrier "SETSUYO STAR"
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 engaged the tug "SMIT AMANDLA" under the subcontract with 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.
- Motor Tanker "GRIGOROUSSA I"
TSAVLIRIS was awarded a Lloyd's Open Form salvage contract at the end of February to salve an aframax tanker that reportedly collided with a quay during a southbound transit of the Suez Canal. The tanker, the "GRIGOROUSSA I", severely damaged her bottom in the incident, which caused the escape of an estimated 1,500 tonnes out of the tanker's total cargo of 94,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, being transported from the Mediteranean to Singapore.
An inspection at Suez anchorage after exiting the canal revealed that the tanker was not in a condition to resume her voyage while the underwater damage was too extensive for temporary repairs. The casualty was found to have several tanks communicating or breached, with a 4 metre trim by the head and a starboard list. The decision was taken to transship the cargo to another vessel. Hydraulic pumping and other equipment as well as specialized operators were flown to Egypt from Holland, for pumping the cargo of the flooded tanks from over the top.
A large array of additional ship-to-ship (STS) equipment was also dispatched from TSAVLIRIS' warehouse in Piraeus onboard the salvage tug "MEGAS ALEXANDROS". This equipment included additional pumps, a steam generator for heating the cargo, STS hoses, oil booms and absorbents, yokohama fenders and other items. A large salvage team was mobilized including a senior salvage master, an STS master, a naval architect / marine engineer, marine chemist, a diving team, riggers, pumpmen and other personnel. Everything was on site and ready during the first week of March, and TSAVLIRIS was poised to fix a tanker, the "GENMAR TRUST", to receive the cargo, when permission for the STS was denied by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) pending, according to Canal officials, settlement of their claim against the casualty.
The vessel's P&I Club settled the SCA claim on the agreement that the STS would be permitted on receipt of the funds. Accordingly, on March 17th, TSAVLIRIS proceeded to fix another suitable tanker, the "TRUST SPIRIT", for the intended operation. The receiving tanker arrived on site on March 26th and in the meanwhile STS requirements were negotiated and agreed between the salvors and SCA. However, on March 22nd, shortly before the arrival on scene of the receiving tanker, the Egyptian courts intervened and prohibited the STS pending further decisions to be taken.
On March 28th TSAVLIRIS was advised unofficially that permission would not be granted prior to an investigation by a senior public prosecutor in Cairo and settlement of the Environmental Authority's own claim by the Club. Since all personnel and equipment for the STS had been on site for nearly a month, standing by to commence the operation, the new, indefinite delay prompted Tsavliris to scale down the salvage operation while awaiting permission. The tanker "TRUST SPIRIT", which had arrived at Suez anchorage on March 26th, was cancelled on April 11th, and salvage personnel was demobilized until further notice. On the 16th of August the club of the casualty reached agreement with the Environmental Authority as well as with other private claimants abd settled all claims.
Thereafter the arrest of the vessel and cargo was lifted and TSAVLIRIS fixed the M/T "VEMAOCEAN" to tranship the cargo from "GRIGOROUSSA I". The transhipment vessel is expected to arrive arround the 20th of Septmeber and ship to ship cargo transfer is expected to be completed by the end of September.
