Grounded Bulk Carrier News

Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Saturday Tokyo planned to send a team of environment ministry officials and specialists to Mauritius soon to respond to the oil spill.A Japanese bulk carrier struck a coral reef off Mauritius on July 25, spilling about 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil and triggering a state of “environmental emergency” in what some scientists call the country’s worst ecological disaster.The ship, MV Wakashio, is owned by Japan’s Nagashiki Shipping and chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines.(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)Related: Grounded Bulk Ca

A Japanese bulk carrier that ran aground on a reef in Mauritius last month threatening a marine ecological disaster around the Indian Ocean island has broken apart, authorities said on Saturday.The condition of the MV Wakashio was worsening early on Saturday and it split by the afternoon, the Mauritius National Crisis Committee said.“At around 4:30 p.m., a major detachment of the vessel’s forward section was observed,” it said in a statement. “On the basis of the experts’ advice…

A 958-foot bulk carrier has refloated after running aground about 2.5 miles east of Virginia Beach, Thursday morning.Crew members aboard the vessel, JSW Salem, contacted U.S. Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads watchstanders in Portsmouth after the Panamanian flagged ship ran aground near Cape Henry Buoy #4.The ship's crew reported there were 120,000 metric tons of coal and 26 people aboard the ship.A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Station Little Creek launched and arrived on scene to assist.

The U.S. Coast Guard is responding to an incident involving a motor vessel that grounded in the Columbia River near Skamokawa, Washington, Friday night. The motor vessel Rosco Palm, a 751-foot Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship reportedly ran aground at 7:49 p.m. on Friday night, refloated, moved to a few miles upstream to mitigate collision risk and then grounded while at anchor on sand bottom while waiting for first light assessment. The vessel has refloated with the tide at 7:40 am and there is no indication of pollution being discharged.

There is no word yet on what is to become of the bulk carrier Los Llanitos, the 38,000-tonne ship that went aground near Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, during Hurricane Patricia on October 23, says the Mexico News Daily. On Saturday, October 24, the bulk carrier Los Llanitos ran aground on rocks near Punta Graham, Barra de Navidad, some 25 nautical miles north of Manzanillo, Mexico, Pacific coast. The ship was pushed aground by hurricane Patricia. She was berthed in the port, but asked to meet the hurricane in open seas, when the strong winds and current pushed her aground at the rocks. The removal of fuel and chemicals was completed on November 26, says a report issued by a salvage company.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it continues to monitor the response and salvage operations to the 656-foot HK-flagged bulk carrier Federal Rideau, hard aground in the downbound shipping channel of Lake St. Clair since early Sunday morning. Several attempts to refloat the vessel have been unsuccessful since then and five tugs have been dispatched for another attempt. Initial reports indicate there is no resultant pollution and no injuries were reported. At around 3 a.m. Sunday, response coordinators at Coast Guard Sector Detroit received notice that the motor vessel Federal Rideau, grounded in the downbownd channel in Lake St. Clair near the Detroit River. The vessel is carrying approximately 22,672 tons of wheat.

Crowley Maritime Corp. subsidiary Titan Salvage, based in Pompano Beach, Fla., and its partner T&T Salvage, a maritime emergency and salvage company based in Galveston, Texas, recently completed a challenging wreck removal project off the coast of Chile. The job, which involved the removal and scuttling (the process of strategically sinking a shipwreck) of a grounded bulk carrier on Llolleo Beach, required the use of unique, ship-to-shore equipment – such as an aerial téléphérique and a pneumatic pontoon system…

A member of the American Salvage Association (ASA) responded to a grounded bulk carrier, CSL Assiniboine, which occurred on November 16 in the St. Lawrence Seaway near Cardinal, Ontario, Canada. It has been reported that engine troubles caused the vessel to drift off course, but an investigation is underway. The Assiniboine was ballasted down until the ASA member’s four tugboats were ready to free the grounded vessel from the shoal. Additionally, approximately 10% of the carrier’s cargo of soybeans was lightered into a barge and later delivered to a local grain elevator. The CSL Assiniboine was successfully refloated on November 21st and has been moved to a berth where the remaining cargo will stay on board until a decision is made about where to offload it.

Port authorities are unable to predict how long it will take to refloat the 40,000 ton coal ship Pasha Bulker, stranded off a Newcastle beach, according to the West Australian. A Newcastle Port Corporation spokesman said the situation would be clearer once the 20-man salvage team, which spent its fifth day aboard the grounded bulk carrier, completed its detailed plan. Equipment to contain an oil spill was being moved from Newcastle port to a holding area in a carpark at Nobby's Beach, where it can be moved quickly in the event of a fuel leak from the ship, which has been wedged on a sandbar since Friday. The team has found a breach in the vessel's outer hull but a secondary inner hull remains intact.