Tag: salvage operation

MV RENA Updates Salvors on board the crane barge Smit Borneo hope to this afternoon begin removing containers from the Rena, weather and other conditions permitting.The 110 metre crane barge departed Port of Tauranga early yesterday morning, and salvors spent the day securing the vessel on the port side of the Rena. This involved the placement of mooring lines and four massive anchors, at the end of about 800m of anchor chain, to secure the barge next to the Rena.Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) Salvage Unit Manager Arthur Jobard said the barge was currently moored about 300m off Rena. It would use winches to extend and retract its four anchor chains to move the vessel to access containers from different parts of the ship as needed.Mr Jobard said salvors planned to begin testing the barge's cranes and other systems today, starting with the removal of lighter, empty containers, before beginning work on the heavier containers."The focus today will be on testing and refining the process for removing containers, starting with those that are empty before moving onto more difficult containers. As always, these operations are highly complex and are heavily dependent on the weather and technical factors. However, all going well, ...

MV RENA Updates Rena is still intact after the weekend's stormy weather. Electronic sensors monitoring the movement of the wreck indicated some extra movement during last night's swells, but Svitzer advises there was nothing untoward in the readings.Salvage teams are going out to the wreck this morning to resume work on installing patches in the passages on Rena, to improve buoyancy.No container removal operations were undertaken over the weekend due to high swells. Container removal operations are not expected to resume for the next day or so.A total of 167 containers have been removed from Rena. There were 1368 containers on board when Rena ran aground, and an estimated 87 were washed overboard on 12 October, leaving 1114 on board today.The crane barge Smit Borneo is expected to arrive from Singapore around 11am today. The barge will remain in port for several days while the barge is prepared for container removal.The Sea Tow 60 is also in port.The anchor handling tug Go Canopus remains attached to Rena.Winds are blowing north easterly at about 15 knots, shifting to northwest today with low cloud and swells of a maximum 4m. Another weather spike is expected tomorrow night and wet weather is set ...

A total of 87 containers fell overboard in bad weather - salvage operation continues A loaded cargo ship, described by salvage workers as a 'lame, dying, beast', is still clinging to a reef off the New Zealand coast, two months after running aground in the middle of the night on the captain's birthday.Cracked down the middle, listing 21 degrees and piled high with goods containers, the 47,230-tonne Rena creaks and groans as steel plates in its fractured hull grind against each other with the sea's constant swell, continuing to defy weeks of predictions that the vessel is about to break up.A salvage team is painstakingly removing the containers, which have hung over the edge, teetering in a gravity-defying manner since the ship hit the reef on October 5. Their progress is reported in a daily bulletin, which most recently confirmed that the Rena remains fragile, but intact.The job is highly dangerous. The 40-man salvage team from Dutch company Svitzer dice with death as they clamber at dizzying heights over the containers, attaching them to a crane to be hoisted onto an adjacent boat and taken ashore.The Liberian-registered Rena, manned by a 25-man Filipino crew, ran onto the Astrolabe Reef, 22 ...

MV RENA Updates Container removal from the stricken ship Rena off the coast of Tauranga is proceeding well - but the removal operation continues to be weather dependent, Maritime New Zealand's National On Scene Commander Rob Service said.A total of 165 containers have been removed so far, with 20 removed today (as at 4.00pm).Mr Service warned that removing containers would become progressively more difficult, and the operation would need to stop during periods of high winds and swells, which were being constantly monitored.He said it was always a concern about how long the operation would take, but it had to be done safely, and each stack of containers had to be individually managed.Low-level beach cleaning activities were continuing at Mt Maunganui, Maketu, Matakana and Motiti islands today, and at Papamoa beach where oil had resurfaced. Oil that had been deposited on the beach is likely to be covered and uncovered by normal coastal processes for some time, he said.However the amount of oil was not significant and, overall, the amount of oil being discovered was decreasing.Meanwhile a wildlife response team captured and examined 80 penguins last night on Rabbit Island but found no oiled birds. Thirteen of those captured were ...

Due to strong winds Salvage operations remain on hold due to strong winds around the Rena, says Maritime New Zealand (MNZ).Salvors are continuing to monitor the condition of the vessel through electronic sensors on board but information gathered so far indicates there is no significant change or deterioration of the hull."The vessel remains in a fragile condition, but is still stable," said Maritime New Zealand Salvage Unit Manager Arthur Jobard."Salvors will remain on board the vessel Go Canopus overnight and will continue to monitor the Rena's status."Container recovery company Braemar Howells remains ready to respond to any potential container loss from the Rena, with vessels and personnel on standby, Mr Jobard said.National On Scene Commander Alex van Wijngaarden said beach cleaning work had continued today with larger numbers of responders ready on standby in case more oil comes ashore.Beach cleaning operations will continue tomorrow in a number of areas.The National Oiled Wildlife Response Team continues to work on plans for the staged release of more wildlife that satisfy release criteria and as their habitats are cleaned. A team is now scheduled to go out on Friday night to monitor penguins released to Rabbit Island on Tuesday.Source: Maritime NZ

The barge has been raised and towed to dry dock for repairs Salvage Team members recently fought with high current Mississippi River conditions to refloat a sunken coal barge near Lake Providence, LA. The barge was fully loaded and headed south when it went down in March of this year.Having been on the river bottom this long, the barge was partially buried in river sediment. The salvage crew began the task of digging the wreck clear. Methods involving clam buckets proved unsuccessful as the river current would cause the equipment to become fouled and uncontrollable. An 80 ft. compressed air-lift suction system was quickly assembled and proved to be capable of moving the mud, sand, and remaining cargo in the high current.Once the barge was exposed, the dive team began to survey the condition of the barge. Divers were challenged by the river conditions, but, without incident, they were able to empty the mud filled tanks and rig the wreck to the Inland Salvage heavy lift barges Big Al and Large Marge.The wreck was raised and, while still held in the cranes, moved toward the bank and into shallow water. Hull surveys found limited damage and the Salvage Master determined ...

Salvors may continue to remove containers from the vessel The exclusion zone around the stranded container ship Rena has been reduced, allowing charter operators and others access to the popular coastal area as salvors continue to remove containers from the vessel.Salvors removed 31 containers of 1280 left on the ship on Friday. The Rena grounded on Astrolabe Reef off the coast of Tauranga on October 5. It was carrying 1368 containers when it grounded and 88 containers have fallen off the ship.The weather is fine in the region on Saturday and salvors are continuing their work, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) says.Clean-up operations will also continue on Leisure Island, Matakana Island, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa and the Kaituna River Mouth, MNZ says.The Bay of Plenty Regional Council's harbourmaster has reduced the exclusion zone to three nautical miles around the ship.The new zone was put in place from midnight on Friday.About 350 tonnes of oil leaked from the ship.Source: Maritime NZ

MV RENA Updates Calm conditions have allowed 15 more containers to be lifted from the rear of the cargo ship Rena to the crane barge Sea Tow 60 (ST 60), Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) says.This brings the total number of containers removed to 18, after three were removed yesterday.MNZ Salvage Unit Manager Kenny Crawford said "With every container removed, the consequences are lessened, but every day is a new day and each container presents its own puzzle."Cranes cannot operate in winds greater than around 24 knots, so we are very much at the mercy of the weather. Even if it looks calm, strong winds can halt operations," Mr Crawford said.Salvors have now fitted 220 transponders to containers aboard the Rena and tugs are on hand to provide additional support for vessel operations.Containers recovered from the Rena are being transferred from the ST60 on to the salvage support vessel Go Canopus, before being brought into port for unloading and processing as required. Container processing is being carried out by Braemar Howells.Containers that need cleaning and treatment will be taken to the waste transfer centre in Truman Lane. Harrison's Cut will be used only for submerged or floating containers, which, for whatever ...

Updates from MV RENA salvage operation The first container has been lifted from the rear of the cargo ship Rena onto the crane barge Sea Tow 60 (ST60), Maritime New Zealand says.The container was lifted off the ship around 3.30pm, and is one of three that were successfully decoupled by salvors today, ready for transfer to the ST60."Difficult weather conditions stopped crane operations yesterday, and the salvors had this morning originally planned to move the ST60 to the Rena's more sheltered port side to prepare for removal of containers," MNZ Salvage Manager Kenny Crawford said. "However, thanks to the weather conditions much calmer today, they were able to successfully start the container removal process from the stern of the Rena."Weather conditions at present are looking pretty good for continued container removal and salvors are keen to take advantage of that window", he said."Obviously getting the first container off is a milestone for the operation, but there is still a very long way to go. The removal process will take time, as - for safety reasons - each container needs to be lifted separately. Each will also present its own challenges, depending on its position on the vessel and how badly ...

About 385 tons of oil initially spilled into the ocean, Salvage crews have successfully removed all the remaining oil from a cargo ship that ran aground on a New Zealand reef, avoiding a worse environmental disaster.The vessel Rena grounded on the Astrolabe reef near Tauranga on Oct. 5 and authorities feared the worst as about 385 tons of oil initially spilled into the ocean, fouling local beaches.But in a stop-start effort, salvage crews began pumping oil in the days after the grounding while bad weather threatened to tear the ship apart.On Monday, Maritime New Zealand announced it had finished pumping 1,454 tons of oil from the ship and was sending a sea crane to the vessel to begin removing some of the 1,280 containers that remain on board.New Zealand's government is welcoming the news.Source: Huffington Post