EMEA News
Svitzer to Remove Bunkers from Baltic Ace
Danish salvage company Svitzer says it has received a contract to remove bunkers from the Baltic Ace, which sank in the North Sea last week, according to a press release published on maritime portal towingline.com.
The car carrier was loaded with about 466 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 55 tonnes of diesel oil when it sank following a collision with a container vessel on December 5.
In coordination with the Navy, Svitzer divers plan to inspect the vessel this week, and the company expects it will spend two to four weeks, depending on weather conditions, pumping oil from the vessel's tanks.
The wreck site is about 36 meters deep, with about six meters between the top of the ship and the surface.
The Baltic Ace, owned by Ray Car Carriers Ltd. and managed by STAMCO Ship Management Company, was headed for Zeebrugge in Belgium to Kotka in Finland when it collided with the Corvus J container ship, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Eleven people died, or are missing and presumed dead, in the accident, and the Dutch Navy is inspecting the vessel and searching for bodies of the missing.
The Baltic Ace was sailing under a Bahamas flag, while the Corvus J was registered in Cyprus.
The wreck will cost insurers as much as $60 million, Reuters reports.
