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Smit Salvage News

06 Jul 2023

NGO Shipbreaking Platform Pushes for Safe Recycling of FSO Safer

The NGO Shipbreaking Platform has called for the safe and environmentally friendly recycling of the FSO Safer, currently being salvaged off the coast of Yemen.The UNDP is looking for a destination for the FSO’s recycling, and the Platform is calling on the Dutch government, one of the biggest donors to the Stop Red Sea Oil Pollution operation, to assist UNDP in identifying a suitable recycling facility. The Netherlands has shown leadership in preventing the environmental disaster an oil spill from the FSO Safer would have caused, says the Platform, along with Dutch company Boskalis, via its subsidiary SMIT Salvage, which has been tasked with the removal of the oil from the FSO.Referring to Dutch involvement in the Stop Red Sea Oil Pollution operation…

25 Apr 2023

IMO Asks States for Equipment for FSO Safer Oil Spill Contingency Plan

Ndeavour courtesy of Boskalis

The IMO is urging Member States to contribute equipment to help UN-led efforts to prevent a possible catastrophic oil spill from the FSO Safer, an ageing and rapidly decaying floating storage offshore (FSO) unit moored 4.8 nautical miles off the Red Sea coast of Yemen.A converted super tanker, the FSO Safer contains an estimated 150,000 metric tonnes (approximately 1.1 million barrels) of crude oil, four times the amount spilled during the Exxon Valdez incident in 1989. It has been moored at Ras Isa since 1988 where it had been receiving…

20 Apr 2023

Preventing Oil Spill Disaster: Boskalis to Lead UN-coordinated Operation to Remove Oil From Decaying FSO off Yemen

©Boskalis

Dutch marine services firm Boskalis has, through its subsidiary SMIT Salvage, reached an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to remove the oil from the decaying FSO Safer moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast in a push to avoid environmental disaster. This project is a part of the UN-coordinated operation to remove and transfer more than one million barrels of oil from the decaying tanker into a safe modern tanker and the responsible disposal of the Safer.

18 Feb 2022

Felicity Ace Still Ablaze, Towing Vessels En Route

(Photo: Portuguese Navy)

A ship carrying around 4,000 vehicles, including Porsches, Audis and Bentleys, that caught fire near the coast of the Azores will be towed to another European country or the Bahamas, the captain of the nearest port told Reuters on Friday.Lithium-ion batteries in the electric cars on board the vehicle carrier Felicity Ace have caught fire and the blaze requires specialist equipment to extinguish, captain Joao Mendes Cabecas of the port of Hortas said.It was not clear whether the batteries first sparked the fire.“The ship is burning from one end to the other...

04 Feb 2022

Drifting Ship Hits Tennet's HKZ Beta Platform Jacket

Screenshot from the Dutch Coast Guard's video

A cargo ship was cast adrift by storm Corrie on Monday in the Dutch North Sea, in the area where grid operator TenneT is building two transformer platforms (Hollandse Kust Zuid Alpha and Beta) for the connection of the offshore wind farm Hollandse Kust Zuid that is being built by Vattenfall. "TenneT is currently working on the Hollandse Kust Zuid Alpha platform. Fortunately, the situation was safe for the 100 or so employees present and there was no need to evacuate," Tennet said Tuesday.However…

30 Jul 2021

Seacor Power Capsizing: Public Hearing Scheduled for Aug. 2

The Seacor Eagle is staged with gear near the Seacor Power off Port Fourchon, La. The vessel is being used as stable platform to assist in salvage and pollution response operations. (Photo: Brendan Freeman / U.S. Coast Guard)

The U.S. Coast Guard will next week hold a formal public hearing to consider evidence related to the April 2021 capsizing of the liftboat Seacor Power and the death of 13 of its 19 crewmembers in the Gulf of Mexico.The Seacor Power liftboat capsized, April 13, 2021, about seven miles south of Port Fourchon, La., in the Gulf of Mexico with 19 crewmembers aboard. Six crewmembers were initially rescued, and six were recovered unresponsive during the course of the response. Coast Guard boat and aircrews…

12 Jul 2021

Seacor Power Bow Section Raised

The Seacor Eagle is staged with gear near the Seacor Power off Port Fourchon, La. The vessel is being used as stable platform to assist in salvage and pollution response operations. (Photo: Brendan Freeman / U.S. Coast Guard)

Salvors have raised the bow section of the liftboat Seacor Power, which overturned in heavy seas in the Gulf of Mexico in April.The Donjon-SMIT salvage team lifted the bow section to the surface of the water and transported it by barge on Saturday to the Modern American Recycling Services, Inc. (M.A.R.S.) facility in Houma, La.Meanwhile, salvage work continues at the wreck site, where crews recently conducted more acoustic surveys of the stern and accommodation sections. The updated surveys will be used to complete the rigging configuration to prepare the stern section for removal.

12 May 2021

Suez Canal Expansion Plans Lift Dredging Firm Boskalis

(Photo: Boskalis)

Shares in Dutch marine services provider Boskalis jumped on Wednesday, a day after the Suez Canal unveiled a project to expand the southern stretch of the waterway.The Suez Canal Authority plans to expand and deepen its southern section, where a container ship became jammed and blocked traffic for six days in March, throwing international supply chains into disarray.Back in 2014, Egypt signed contracts with six international firms to carry out dredging of the Suez Canal, including…

06 Apr 2021

VIDEO: Dutch Cargo Ship Adrift Off Norway after Crew Evacuated in Stormy Weather

Screenshot from video by Hovedredningssentralen Sør-Norge

The crew of a Dutch cargo ship was evacuated in stormy weather off the coast of Norway late on Monday, leaving the abandoned vessel adrift and in danger of sinking and causing an oil spill, local authorities said on Tuesday.Footage released by the Norwegian Rescue Coordination Centre showed some of the 12 crew members jumping into the ocean from the badly listing Eemslift Hendrika before being rescued by helicopter. Others were hoisted directly from the deck.All were brought to safety…

29 Mar 2021

Traffic in Suez Canal Resumes After Ever Given Refloated

(Photo: Svitzer)

Shipping was on the move again late on Monday in Egypt's Suez Canal after tugs refloated a giant container ship which had been blocking the channel for almost a week, causing a huge build-up of vessels around the waterway.With the 400-meter-long (430-yard) Ever Given dislodged, 113 ships were expected to transit the canal in both directions by early Tuesday morning, Suez Canal Authority (SCA) chairman Osama Rabie told reporters.He said a backlog of 422 ships could be cleared in 3 -1/2 days.The Ever Given had become jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal…

29 Mar 2021

Full Refloating of Stuck Ship in Suez Canal Not a 'Piece of Cake,' Boskalis CEO Says

Illustration by Corona Borealis/AdobeStock

News about the partial refloating of the giant container ship that was stuck in the Suez Canal is good, but completing the operation would not be a "piece of cake", Boskalis CEO Peter Berdowski told Dutch public radio on Monday.Boskalis is the parent company of Smit Salvage, which has assisted in efforts to dislodge the ship.A new tug would arrive and water would be injected under the ship's bow to help free it, but if those efforts did not work containers might have to be removed, Berdowski said.

29 Mar 2021

Giant Ship Blocking Suez Canal Partially Refloated

Credit: Suez Canal Authority

A massive container ship blocking Egypt's Suez Canal for nearly a week has been partially refloated, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Monday, raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened for a huge backlog of ships.The 400-meter (430-yard) long Ever Given became jammed diagonally across a southern section of the canal in high winds early last Tuesday, halting shipping traffic on the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.After further dredging and excavation over the weekend…

28 Mar 2021

Diggers and Dredgers Struggle to Free Ship Blocking the Suez Canal

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

Suez Canal salvage teams intensified excavation and dredging on Sunday around a massive container ship blocking the busy waterway ahead of attempts to refloat it, with two sources saying work had been complicated by rock under the ship’s bow.Diggers were working to remove parts of the canal’s bank and expand dredging close to the ship’s bow to a depth of 18 meters, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.There was no mention of new attempts to release the ship with tugs…

28 Mar 2021

Ship Blocking Suez Canal Moves Slightly, Unclear When it Will Refloat

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

Efforts to dislodge a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal have allowed its stern and rudder to move, but it remains unclear when the vessel will be refloated, the head of the canal authority said on Saturday.The 400 metre (430 yard) long Ever Given became wedged diagonally across a southern section of the canal amid high winds early on Tuesday, blocking one of the world’s busiest waterways.A combination of dredging material from around the ship and pulling and pushing the vessel with tugboats made minor progress in dislodging the ship on Saturday, two SCA sources said.

26 Mar 2021

Ever Given Salvors Weigh Time and Tide with Risk of Tip or Tear

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

The Dutch emergency response team hired to free the vast ship blocking the Suez canal has pulled off some dramatic recoveries, including lifting Russia’s Kursk nuclear submarine from the Barents Sea floor, but says this is one of the trickiest.Weighing 200,000 tonnes without cargo, the Ever Given is the heaviest vessel that Smit Salvage, a subsidiary of the Dutch marine services company Boskalis contracted in the rescue, has faced in its nearly 180-year history.With real-time emergency response crews across the globe…

25 Mar 2021

Suez Canal Authority Considering Dredging Around Grounded Containership

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

The Suez Canal Authority said on Thursday it had discussed the option of dredging around a vast container ship stranded in the waterway during a meeting with a rescue team from Dutch firm Smit Salvage.Current efforts to free the ship include the use of two dredgers, nine tugs, and four diggers on the canal bank, the authority added in a statement.(Reporting by Yusri Mohamed; Writing by Aidan Lewis Editing by Gareth Jones)

25 Mar 2021

Specialist Salvage Teams Join Efforts to Refloat Ever Given in the Suez Canal

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

Salvage teams from the Netherlands and Japan have been hired to devise a plan to refloat a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal, the company leasing the vessel said on Thursday.Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Corp said Dutch firm Smit Salvage and Japan’s Nippon Salvage had been appointed by the ship’s owner and would work alongside its captain and the Suez Canal Authority on a plan to refloat it.“Evergreen Line will continue to coordinate with the shipowner and Suez Canal Authority to deal with the situation with the utmost urgency, ensuring the resumption of the voyage as soon as possible a

24 Mar 2021

Stranded Suez Ship's Owner, Insurers Face Millions in Claims

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

The owner and insurers of one of the world's largest container ships stuck in the Suez Canal face claims totaling millions of dollars even if the ship is refloated quickly, industry sources said on Wednesday.The 400-metre, 224,000-tonne Ever Given ran aground on Tuesday morning after losing the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement, threatening to disrupt global shipments for days.GAC, a Dubai-based marine services company…

24 Mar 2021

Tugs Working to Free Grounded Containership in the Suez Canal

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

The shortest shipping route from Europe to Asia remained blocked on Wednesday as 10 tug boats struggled to free one of the world's largest container ships after it ran aground in the Suez Canal.The 400-metre, 224,000-tonne Ever Given ran aground on Tuesday morning after losing the ability to steer amid high winds and a dust storm, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said in a statement.About 30% of global container shipping volumes pass through the canal each day, carrying everything from fuel to consumer goods.

21 Aug 2020

Large Bulk Carrier Grounds in Mauritius

The large 203,130 dwt bulk carrier Wakashio has run hard aground in an environmentally sensitive area off the east coast of Mauritius, on Saturday evening.The 300-meter, Panamanian-flagged vessel was sailing under ballast without cargo through a major shipping lane in the Indian Ocean when it went off course and grounded on the reefs of Pointe d'Esny, while en route from China to Brazil. Its last port call was in Singapore.The cause of the grounding is unknown. Weather at the time was clear…

09 Apr 2020

Boskalis Buys Salvage Firm Ardent Americas

Image Credit: Boskalis

Dutch dredging and marine services giant Boskalis has acquired the U.S.-based maritime emergency response specialist Ardent Americas.Ardent, created by the 2015 merger of salvage divisions of Svitzer and Crowley, specializes in emergency preparedness and response, wreck removals, subsea services and decommissioning for the offshore oil and gas industry. Ardent Americas was a subsidiary of Ardent Global Marine Services, headquartered in IJmuiden, the Netherlands.Boskalis has also…

23 Apr 2018

Maersk Honam in Jebel Ali Port

The Maersk liner vessel Maersk Honam, which was hit by a serious fire on 6 March, will reach anchorage outside the Jebel Ali Port (UAE) on Tuesday 24 April 2018. The fire broke out around 900 nautical miles southeast of Salalah, Oman, and remains under control. Firefighting activities were initiated by the Indian Coast Guard until vessels with special firefighting capabilities arrived at the scene. Salvage operations are led by Smit Salvage and Ardent – two best-in-class companies within maritime salvage. After careful evaluation with port authorities in the area, Jebel Ali was chosen as the most suitable to accommodate the vessel. During…

03 Oct 2018

SMIT Salvage Bags US Navy Contracts

SMIT Salvage has acquired two five-year marine salvage contracts to serve as the exclusive marine salvage and engineering support contractor for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the division of the U.S. Navy responsible for engineering, building, buying and maintaining Navy ships and submarines.The Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. subsidiary will provide the U.S. Navy with marine salvage, salvage-related towing, ocean engineering and towage services in the event of an emergency or incident in two of the three geographic zones in the world as defined by the U.S. Navy.SMIT Salvage held a contract for one zone covering the area between the Suez Canal and the international date line for a number of periods totaling more than 30 years, which it was able to renew.