The Panama-flagged car carrier Makassar Highway, which sprung oil following itsgrounding on July 23, has been taken under tow, the Swedish Coast Guard said.
The decision to tow the heavily damaged vessel was made on Tuesday, July 31, in anticipation of heavy weather, which could have further compromised the ship’s stability and resulted in additional environmental pollution.
The coast guard added that the towing operation is being closely monitored as there is a risk of an oil spill, since there was no time to fully remove fuel oil and diesel from damaged ship.
As World Maritime News reported earlier, the vessel leaked an unknown amount of oil which has reached the shoreline in the area between Loftahammar and Valdemarsvik.
As a result, the area between mainland and Huvudskär, just south of the Olsklabb lighthouse is closed off by booms by the Swedish Coast Guard and vessels have to go offshore.
“The vessel Makassar Highway is not leaking any more oil as of now,” the coast guard added. “The clean-up operation continues where oil has reached the shore and the Coast Guard is continuing to pick up oil at sea.”
What is more, there is a risk of inflicting further damage to the ship during the towing operation.
Previous underwater inspection found extensive damage on the ship including ruptured ballast tanks on the fore part, a hole in the ship’s bow thruster, as well as heavy metal damages on the ship’s bulb and its port side.
However, the coast guard stressed that the risk of the vessel sinking is low. Due to the challenging conditions, the towing operation is being conducted at a very slow speed, with coast guard vessels on stand by at the scene.
The ship is headed toward Oskarshamn, Kalmar County, Sweden.
The 2001-built Makassar Highway was on its way from Germany’s port of Cuxhaven to Swedish Södertälje port when it got grounded in the Tjust archipelago.
瑞典海岸警衛隊表示，載有巴拿馬旗的汽車運輸船Makassar Highway）於七月二十三拋錨，已經被拖走。
7月31日星期二做出決定拖此受損嚴重的船隻，因為預計天氣會很惡劣，這可能會進一步在船舶的穩定性和額外的環境污染中妥協。
海岸警衛隊補充說，由於沒有時間從損壞的船上完全清除燃油和柴油，因此存在溢油危險，因此正在密切監視拖曳作業。
正如世界海事新聞早些時候報導的那樣，該船洩漏了不明數量的石油，這些石油已到達Loftahammar和Valdemarsvik之間的海岸線。
因此，位於Olsklabb燈塔南部的大陸和Huvudskär之間的區域被瑞典海岸警衛隊的繁榮所封閉，船隻必須離岸。
海岸警衛隊補充道：“Makassar Highway現在不再洩油了。” “ 在石油到達岸邊並且海岸警衛隊繼續在海上採油的情況下，清理工作仍在繼續。”
更重要的是，在牽引操作期間存在對船舶造成進一步損壞的風險。
以前的水下檢查發現船上有大面積損壞，包括前部破裂的壓載艙，船艏推進器上的一個洞，以及船舶燈泡及其左舷的金屬損壞。
然而，海岸警衛隊強調船隻沉沒的風險很低。由於條件極具挑戰性，拖曳作業正在以非常慢的速度進行，現場有海岸警衛隊的船隻待命。
這艘船將駛向瑞典卡爾馬縣的奧斯卡港。
2001年建成的Makassar Highway從德國的庫克斯港港口到瑞典的Södertälje港口，當時它在Tjust群島停泊。
Information source: World Maritime News Staff
