Operations List
On 21st February the 2.250 dwt cargo vessel "ORION I", grounded 1.5 nautical miles from Chioggia port, in Italy. At the time of the incident, she had first loaded 2.238 tons of steel products as well as project cargo from Chioggia to Barcelona and Ponta Delgada in Azores.
Initially refloating attempts were made without success by using the ship's engines. A Lloyd's Open Form was signed on the same day and TSAVLIRIS dispatched subcontracted tug "IDA C" from Venice to assist the vessel in a refloating attempt during high water at midnight. Attempts met with no success and "IDA C" was released and returned to Venice.
The next day TSAVLIRIS salvage master George Polychroniou arrived at the casualty's position in order to coordinate operation and investigate the possibility of lightening . Early on February 24th due to bad weather TSAVLIRIS dispatched tug "EMILIO" from Venice in order to secure the casualty. Refloating attempts were performed again without success. As lightening was the only option, a crane barge and a cargo receiving barge were hired for discharging cargo from the deck and forward part of the cargo hold. Two days later and after cargo removal of 400 tons, the casualty was successfully refloated and escorted to Chioggia port.
TSAVLIRIS tug "MEGAS ALEXANDROS" towed the Motor Vessel "NAFSIKA" from Piraeus to Tartous, Syria and then back to Piraeus.
On 16th of April the 45.000 dwt Motor Tanker "KRITI AMETHYST" , in ballast condition, was immobilized about 250 n. miles NE of French Guiana . The vessel was towed under Lloyd's Open form Agreement by TSAVLIRIS salvage tug "LEOPARD" and safely delivered to Curacao on 1st of May.
After the salvage operation commenced on July 7 , TSAVLIRIS then undertook to tow "LUCY BORCHARD" on a commercial basis from Piraeus to Constanza.
The 18,000 dwt general cargo "LAINE", while on laden passage from Brazil to St. Nicolas, Argentina, with a cargo of 13,000 mt steel billets and steel plates, ran aground at 151,100 km of River Plate on 31st of May. LOF was signed next day, and a local salvage master with two local tugs was dispatched from Buenos Aires to assist. TSAVLIRIS' Senior salvage master Captain G. Polychroniou was also sent out from Piraeus.
Tugboats arrived on scene early morning hours on 1st of June and scouring commenced. Refloating efforts coupled with scouring for the next 3 days proved fruitless. On June 5th, it was decided that lightering operations were necessary before refloating the vessel. The lightering barge "MAR BRAVO" was brought in and after removing approximately 2,200 mt of cargo from the casualty, "LAINE" was refloated by a pushing and pulling combination on the 7th of June.
The 63,000 dwt bulk carrier "ELEFTHERIA", while on a laden voyage of 57,500 metric tons of soya beans from Brazil to Lisbon, Ancona and Ravenna, sustained damages on the starboard hold No 1 in a position North of Algeria. At the time of the incident, the vessel was partly discharged in Lisbon and was en route to Anconna .
LOF agreement was signed and TSAVLIRIS' S/T "MEGAS ALEXANDROS" was dispatched from Piraeus laden with patching, diving and pumping equipment and material. The casualty and tug met on the 8th of June in a position between Panteleria and Cape Bon. When the temporary repairs were completed, "ELEFTHERIA" escorted by the tug, arrived in Anconna for discharge on 11th June. When sufficient cargo was discharged to allow satisfactory inspection of the hold, S/T "MEGAS ALEXANDROS" was released and the services were terminated on June 16th.
On June 9 TSAVLIRIS was contracted under LOF to provide assistance to another bulker "CONGER", this time on a voyage from Brazil to Rotterdam laden with a soya cargo. The salvors dispatched super-tug "FOTIY KRYLOV" together with a subcontracted salvage unit to the scene, 14 miles northwest of El Ferrol, Spain, where the Conger was immobilized with engine problems. But by the time of arrival, the Spanish authorities had already taken the casualty under tow.
The Greek leading Salvor TSAVLIRIS has dispatched S/T "MEGAS ALEXANDROS" from Piraeus on 7th of July to assist the container Ship "LUCY BORCHARD", which ran aground in shallow waters in the sea of Korakia, North West of Chios island. During the incident, the vessel was on a passage from Izmir to Barcelona, loaded with over 200 containers. 11 crew who were on board did not suffer any injuries.
TSAVLIRIS' owned tug "MEGAS ALEXANDROS", together with "KERVEROS", a chartered tug which sailed from Thessaloniki, arrived on the scene later afternoon on the same day. A preliminary underwater inspection and a refloating attempt were planned for the next day. A divers' report early in the morning revealed that the vessel was sitting on sand mixed with stones, however further inspections were unfeasible due to low visibility. Refloating attempts by both tugs later at noon completed successfully and upon instruction of the port authorities the vessel was towed to the shelter bay of Vollissos,Chios. An additional underwater inspection revealed major damages on the propeller, hull and the rudder.
The casualty was then safely anchored at Vollissos bay, and from there towed to Piraeus .The salvage operation ended in 20/7/2004.
The bulk carrier "OLYMPIC GALAXY", on the way to delivering a cargo of 61.000 tonnes of wheat from Australia, grounded in Sri Lanka on July 10. TSAVLIRIS tug "SB-408", a sub-contacted tug Mahanuwara and a smaller bunker were mobilized to assist the casualty.
The vessel was refloated and safely delivered to Triconmalee Roads, after a lightening operation where approximately 4300 tonnes of cargo was removed.
Engaged under a Lloyd's Open Form contract, TSAVLIRIS has been assisting the handysized bulker "KEN EXPLORER" since mid-August when the vessel grounded in the Gulf of Khambat while on a voyage from Chile to the Indian ports Dahej and Tuticorin. Two salvage tugs, "FAIRPLAY IX" and the TSAVLIRIS operated "SB-408", were mobilized from Colombo to aid the casualty. Initial attempts to refloat the "KEN EXPLORER" proved unsuccessful, as the vessel remained hard aground, with severe damage sustained during the incident, including flooded of the double bottoms on starboard side and centre as well as four flooded cargo holds. By this stage the enormity of the salvage challenge was clear as the casualty site was exposed to the monsoon season and the nature of the cargo posed additional problems to be overcome.
The vessel was loaded with more than 43,800 tonnes of copper concentrates, a commodity that is liquefiable if its moisture content rises sufficiently and potentially destabilizing to a ship where seawater enters the cargo spaces. Deploying a bunker vessel engaged from the United Arab Emirates, TSAVLIRIS successfully removed all bunkers and oil waters aboard the bulker, including approximately 1,100 tonnes of heavy fuel oil. In addition two lightering vessels were hired, only for them to refuse to participate in the operation on the grounds of high risk from uncharted shallows, bad weather and the persistent threat posed by the cargo, which is capable of turning to slurry and causing a vessel to list sharply.
In spite of continuing interruptions from bad weather and strong local tides that made it difficult for barges to remain alongside, two further vessels - the 24,000 dwt "PATARA" and the 16,000 dwt "SHENG MU" - were brought in to act as storage vessels, while a tug/barge combination and a self-propelled barge acted as feeder vessels to transfer cargo.
In addition to the flotilla of equipment assembled for the intensive services to the stricken bulker, a large team of personnel was gathered, including three salvage masters, two salvage engineers, a salvage officer, two salvage divers, 24 crewmen for stevedoring and operation of equipment, and the tug crews. Indicative of the conditions confronted by the team, considerable material damage was suffered during the provision of services.
Due to the weather and swell conditions, fenders and mooring ropes frequently broke and in one instance the parting of mooring lines resulted in a serious injury to one of the stevedores, requiring an operation on both legs. On account of corrosion from the high acidity content of the mixture of water and cargo more than 20 pumps had to be replaced in the course of the operation. After the removal of 21,000 tonnes of cargo, the casualty was successfully refloated and towed to deep waters where she was anchored for the continuation of the operation. Τhe vessel was then towed to Kadla, where underwater patching was performed and eventually, to Jebel Ali , U.A.E. for the discharging of the rest of the cargo.
The 43.500 dwt bulk "NAPOLEON", outbound from Houston Channel to Galveston, reported a steering problem and grounded after a collision with one tug and four barges. Tug "JONATHAN THOMAS" with one of the four barges- tank barge "KIRBY 10378" - suffered damages, but no leakage was reported.
On October 12, TSAVLIRIS signed an LOF agreement with the vessels' owners, and a refloating attempt with the assistance of four subcontracted tugs was in progress. "NAPOLEON" was successfully refloated on the same day and was towed to Bolivar Roads Anchorage for damage inspections. Preliminary underwater survey showed bulbous bow damage; no steering problem was found.
"NAPOLEON" was then towed and berthed to Galveston Port, where repairs to the bulbous bow as well as to the starboard bow were performed; A rolled plate was fabricated and installed into the cut-out on the bulbous bow. On October 23, repairs were completed and the vessel sailed out to the Galveston outer anchorage for a diving inspection of the hull by the Class surveyor, where no serious damages were found. Salvage services completed successfully with a safe delivery certificate on the same day.
The 22.500 dwt bulk carrier "ATLANTIS CHARM", while on a laden voyage with fertilizers from Estonia and Latvia to Mexico, was immobilized due to main engine failure at approximately 680 miles NW of Cape Verde islands. Engaged under a Lloyd's Open Form contract, TSAVLIRIS immediately dispatched S/T "LEOPARD", which arrived at the casualty site on October 31.
The vessel was safely delivered to Las Palmas on November 9.
"ISMINI", a 7,200 dwt cargo vessel, ran aground while exiting the port of El Arish, Egypt. During the incident, the vessel was fully laden with 7,000 metric tons of silica sand stowed in all three holds, with destination Gaeta, Italy.
Services were rendered in Egypt involving the provision of a salvage tug and a lightering vessel, as well as a salvage officer and divers. According to the diving inspection, the vessel was aground by way of her entire length and lightering of approximately 1,500 tons of cargo was required in order to refloat her. The salvage services were completed with the delivery of the casualty to Piraeus port.
TSAVLIRIS' most powerful tug "FOTIY KRYLOV" towed the Bulk Carrier "ANANGEL VENTURE" from San Lorentzo, Argentina to Fredericia, Denmark. The vessel was towed across the Atlantic for the fitting of a new rudder.
"GRAIN TRADER", a 30,000 dwt bulker laden with 28,200 metric tons of alumina in bulk, sailed from the Port of Esquivel (Jamaica) to Port Alfred (Canada) via rebunkering Port of Halifax (Canada). Whilst en route to the above port, the vessel experienced main engine problems and the voyage continued at reduced speed under heavy weather conditions.
On request for tug assistance by the vessel's master, TSAVLIRIS immediately dispatched a salvage tug, which sailed from its base at Halifax. The convoy arrived at Halifax and the "GRAIN TRADER" was safely delivered to her owners.
