Saving our ships

The past year has seen Singapore salvors undertake some unusual jobs, including the salvage of two chemical tankers laden with the hazardous cargo phenol. The more recent of the two involved Endah Lestari, which listed about two nautical miles off Pasir Gudang, Malaysia. Kasel Salvage got the contract to do the job, which took place in two phases. Under phase one, which took ten days, Kasel removed some 630t of phenol and filled the vessel with ballast water to ensure it did not float away. Rainer Kasel of Kasel Salvage says: “The ship was lying on its side. So we had to pump out the cargo by drilling holes into the ship. We had divers do the job and had to take a lot of precautions.” Kasel then took two days to set up the equipment for the wreck removal. It pumped out the ballast water, then uprighted and lifted the Endah Lestari using a floating crane. This took another ten days. Kasel says: “It?s very seldom you get a phenol carrier. We have to be extra careful because phenol is very volatile and hazardous. With this job, you can?t cut corners. We had to go step by step, otherwise you will get problems like getting burnt.” The other job was Ikari II, carried out by Semco Salvage & Marine. The Indonesian ship loaded 550t of phenol in Pasir Gudang and collided with a dredger last August. Says Semco general manager, Chua Eng Boon, Ikari II was listing at a 40 deg angle. However, Semco stabilised the vessel by ballasting and reballasting. It also pumped out more than 200t of uncontaminated phenol. Salvage is dangerous enough without the added complication of not knowing what cargo is onboard a wreck. Semco?s first LOF job this year was slop tanker Pristine, which listed and eventually overturned in Malaysian waters in March. The tug Salvalet was the first tug to arrive at the casualty?s location. As the list worsened, the casualty crew abandoned ship and was taken onboard Salvalet, where the LOF 2000 was signed. Due to the heat generated from the chemical reaction, a 6t CO2 system was also mobilised. On arrival at site, lifting wires were rigged over the casualty to save it from sinking. The SCOPIC Clause was invoked and accepted by the vessel?s P&I club on March 8. Capt Chua says that Semco was initially told that the cargo was fuel oil carbon black. However, it turned out to be nitric acid. Parts of the bottom port hull had been “eaten” through. These holes were patched up before the casualty was parbuckled on March 11. The casualty was tied alongside Semco?s Sheerleg L1501 where tests indicated high levels of NO2 in three tanks. Pristine was brought into Singapore for scrap after the NO2 level was reduced in line with the requirements of the port chemist. It was then delivered to its owners. Singapore salvors also win jobs further afield. Together with Nan Fong Oceanic Engineering of Taiwan, Semco sealed a deal in Taiwan with Gard Services to remove the Amorgos wreck in three stages ? removal of oil, removal of cargo and wreck removal. Stages one and three were to be done by Semco while Nan Fong was to do Stage 2. Semco had successfully carried out stage one, even as Nan Fong was removing the cargo. Work had to stop at the onset of successive typhoons, which progressively caused the wreck to disintegrate. Capt Chua says that wreck removal is now extremely difficult and Semco is awaiting instructions from the owners. n