Salvage crews are to break up and
scrap the cargo ship which ran aground in rough seas off the north Wales coast.
The MV Carrier will be cut into
"manageable" sections on the shore at Llanddulas, near Colwyn Bay,
and sent to a scrap yard by road.
The owners confirmed contractors
will start the demolition once they remove the ship's 24,000 litres of fuel.
The work is expected to take six weeks.
Seven Polish crew had to rescued
when the vessel ran aground last Tuesday.
Two lifeboats and Royal Navy and RAF
helicopters were involved in the rescue during the night-time rescue in heavy
seas.
More than 14,000 litres of fuel has,
so far, been removed during low tides from the ship by workers from PGC
Demolition of Heywood, Lancashire.
German shipping firm Reederei Erwin
Strahlmann, which owns and manages the vessel, said a structural assessment
revealed severe damage so the vessel has been "declared a constructive
total loss".
It has awarded PGC Demolition a
second contract to demolish and remove the vessel.
"This task is already under
way, the work running in parallel with the fuel removal operation," said a
company statement.
The company said the vessel will be
cut into manageable sections on the shore and then taken by road to a
designated scrap yard.
 |
A 100-metre exclusion zone around
the vessel has been put in place
|
"The demolition of the wreck is
expected to take around six weeks, but the pace of operations will be dictated
by safety considerations and the weather at the scene," said the
statement.
The ship, which is registered in
Antigua and Barbuda and was carrying a cargo of stone, is now resting against
concrete blocks on the beach at Llanddulas, which runs adjacent to the A55
which was re-opened on Thursday night.
The company added that the crew
members, who were uninjured, are expected to be repatriated home "as soon
as possible".
The vessel had used a nearby jetty
to load its cargo of limestone.
Specialist vehicles and equipment
have been taken to the scene via the coastal cycle path.
Fencing was erected around the site
on Saturday.
Users of fishing vessels, water
bikes and other boats are asked to stay away from the area.
A 100-metre exclusion zone around
the vessel has also been put in place.
Police said anyone who breaches the
exclusion zone would be committing an offence.
The operation to remove fuel from
the vessel began on Thursday.
A "small quantity" of oil
which was in use at the time leaked out of the 82-metre long vessel but the
impact of the leak is expected to be "minimal", Environment Agency
Wales said.
It is monitoring the work while the
Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is also involved.
An investigation into the incident
has been launched by the Department of Transport's Marine Accident
Investigation Branch.
It also led to serious problems for
motorists using the A55 expressway.
Initially, the dual carriageway was
closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.
However, North Wales Police reopened
the road in both directions on Thursday, but imposed a 40mph speed limit.
 |
The grounded ship is close to the
main A55 coast road
|
Source: BBC. 7 April 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-17645827
No comments:
Post a Comment