 |
|
|
 News Around the Republic of Mexico | January 2006 
6 Tugs Move Grounded Ship a Few Feet During High Tide
 Sandra Dibble - Union-Tribune
| | A tug, one of six, helped pull the bow of the grounded APL Panama a few feet yesterday in Ensenada. The bow's bulb, which was mostly buried, is now clear. (John Gibbins/Union-Tribune) |
Ensenada – For the first time since the container ship ran aground Christmas Day, its bow budged a few feet yesterday as six tugboats pulled on it with a combined 40,000 horsepower.
Working in predawn darkness, salvage crews from Florida-based Titan Maritime LLC launched their greatest effort yet to float the 880-foot APL Panama, taking advantage of lunar high tides, a lightened load and new equipment brought down from the United States.
The task promises to be arduous.
The vessel has been stuck in sand, parallel to the shore. Yesterday's effort moved the bow 10 degrees toward open water, said Michael Mallin, a London-based attorney working for Titan and its parent company, Crowley Maritime Corp.
Two tugboats broke lines as they pulled.
"Centimeter by centimeter, the principle is that she will be gradually brought about until she heads out to sea," Mallin said.
The vessel, pounded by waves, had been getting increasingly stuck on this broad beach off a residential neighborhood south of the port of Ensenada.
Crews are expected to continue working over the next couple of days during morning high tides.
If the plan fails, salvage workers will consider two other strategies.
Tons of machinery and equipment already have been carried down by helicopter from National City, where the marine contractor R.E. Staite Engineering Inc. has been a U.S. staging area for the operation.
Powerful hydraulic pullers are ready to be sent down, together with a 470-foot anchor chain that weighs more than 39,000 pounds.
Some are skeptical that this week's efforts will succeed.
"What they're trying to do is not easy," said Capt. Jose Luis Ríos Hernández, Ensenada's harbor master, pointing to the force of the surf and the growing mounds of sand blocking the hull. "You're talking about 30,000 tons sitting in sand."
The load has been lightened in recent days as more than 2,000 tons of fuel has been removed and taken away by tanker trucks, but an additional 1,000 tons remains in the vessel's fuel tanks, Mallin said.
Ríos said government officials are growing increasingly concerned about the strain on the hull and the possibility of a fuel leak. By today, they want all fuel off the vessel, Ríos said.
The operation is a delicate balancing act.
With a heavy load on top, crews must be careful about keeping the ship stable, and much of that has been done by filling its ballast tanks with seawater. But to move the ship, some of that water must be quickly expelled to lighten its load.
"If they get rid of all the ballast, the stern would go down too hard," Mallin said.
If the effort is successful, the vessel could be afloat by this weekend. But if it fails, the hydraulic pullers will be flown down to augment the power of the tugboats later this month.
The last resort would involve removing the containers, "but it's not easy discharging the cargo in that surf, and it's something we'd like to avoid if we can," Mallin said.
The APL Panama, carrying more than 900 containers and a 25-member crew – with a Croatian captain, a Polish chief engineer, and a crew from Myanmar – ran aground Christmas Day as it prepared to enter Ensenada's harbor.
Initial reports from the port said it appeared the ship ran aground after failing to wait for a pilot to guide it, but the ship's German owner has said the strong currents apparently pulled the vessel off course as it was waiting for the pilot.
An investigator appointed by Mexico's Communications and Transportation Ministry will go over the testimony and evidence and decide what caused the accident.
When he gave his account to port authorities, the captain was extremely upset, Ríos said. "Sometimes with the spectacle and all the speculation, we forget that this is a tragedy."
Sandra Dibble: (619) 293-1716; sandra.dibble@uniontrib.com |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us