TITAN Monitoring Arctic Circle Shipwreck

Monday, June 22, 2009

TITAN Salvage has been contracted by the owners of the refrigerated cargo ship Petrozavodsk to provide environmental protection and other services for the 1,287 TDWT vessel, which ran aground on the southern tip of Bjornoya (Bear Island) in May.

Bear Island is a remote location between Norway and Spitzbergen within the Arctic Circle. The crew of 12 was rescued earlier from the stricken vessel by helicopter, and the ship is now aground under precipitous cliffs which pose a threat due to falling rocks.

TITAN's contracted tug, Havservice, is currently on scene monitoring the vessel with personnel and equipment ready to respond to any pollution emanating from the wreck. As the winter ice completes its retreat on the cliff tops, the amount of falling rocks will lessen, enabling a TITAN team to commence full pollution control measures aboard the ship.

Bear Island is the southernmost island of the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago. The island is located in the western part of the Barents Sea, approximately halfway between Spitsbergen and the North Cape. Despite some commercial activities in past centuries, the island today is uninhabited except for personnel working at the island's meteorological station Herwighamna.

(www.titansalvage.com)