Calmer weather expedites salvage ops on grounded Ultrabulk vessel

Calmer weather off South Africa has provided good conditions to expedite salvage work on the Ultrabulk-operated grounded general cargo ship Ultra Galaxy.

The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) said that its top priority was the extraction and relocation of the vessel’s fuel and oils on board to prevent possible pollution at sea and the adjacent land area.

The Authority said on Tuesday that the extreme weather experienced throughout the whole of last week eventually dislodged and detached the ship’s cargo hold covers. Some were retrieved during the salvage operations. Although no precise amount was given, SAMSA claimed that a significant portion of the ship’s fertilizer cargo was swept away by the sea.

To counteract this, warnings have been issued both to vessels passing nearby and the general public to be on the lookout for debris and other flotsam at sea and ashore.

“Current efforts are focused on removing the fertilizer bags that are washing up on the shoreline. It is expected that most of the fertilizer in the individual cargo bags would have dissolved. The search for flotsam and other debris from the ship will be expanding over the next few days, as the salvage crew tries to utilize the good weather between cold fronts,” SAMSA stated.

The drift pattern is expected to be in a southerly direction, so the members of the public on the West Coast south of Brand se Baai to St Helena Bay have been told to report any debris that may wash up on the beach and to not attempt to retrieve it on their own.

Salvage teams and divers have started sealing the fuel tanks to prevent any oil from spilling into the ocean and work has started on investigating the structural integrity of the vessel as well as devising a plan to secure and safely remove the wreck from the area.

“At this stage of the operation, the vessel poses no new environmental threats, however, all efforts are being made to monitor the situation and put preventative measures in place,” SAMSA added.

The Panama-registered 13,800 dwt Ultra Galaxy was sailing to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania when it was abandoned by its crew of 18 Filipino seafarers after excessively listing followed by a subsequent grounding last Tuesday.

After abandoning the vessel, all of the crew members were rescued from a life raft and evacuated by fishing vessel Malachite first to St Helena Bay where they received routine medical attention. The crew is now safely back in the Philippines.

The vessel is now lying on its side, beached, in a remote location of the Atlantic Ocean, northwest of Cape Town.