The challenging salvage operation of the 185-metres long container ship ‘Kea Trader’ is continuing exactly one year after the ship ran aground on a rock reef in South Pacific.
In a first of its kind situation, the six-months-old ship, owned by Lomar Shipping, was en route from Tahiti to Noumea, when she ran aground on a reef off New Caledonia on 12 July 2017 and remains on site until today, despite continuous efforts to be removed.
The vessel suffered a split in two in November as a result from heavy weather. The situation got worse due to two subsequent cyclones in February and March 2018 that impeded salvage operations, often preventing access on the scene.
Now employees of the Shanghai Salvage company can only access the site on favorable weather conditions. Occasionally, materials also are being removed when conditions allow it. The materials and debris that are gathered will head for recycling, the company has earlier informed.
Four offshore vessels are currently on site, working for refloating and monitoring the risk of pollution.
After the container vessel split in half, fuel was spilled off the ship, with oil washing New Caledonia’s eastern coasts and making the local authorities issue a marine pollution alert.
Experts and the owner are working on plans to recover more substantive pieces of the vessel by using more advanced heavy lifting equipment, but this remains subject to complex studies and approval by authorities.
The reefs of Caledonia are known for containing several shipwrecks. The cause of the incident however is not determined, as all modern means of navigation would have indicated any obstacle on the route to prevent such accident, according to local media.
There were no injuries as a result form the incident.
