Removal of containers continues RAY SMUTS THE FUTURE of the 1 680TEU container ship, Safmarine Agulhas, hard aground off the port of East London for more than a month, hangs in the balance despite several unsuccessful attempts to free the stricken vessel. As FTW’s deadline approached, Clare Gomes, marketing and communications manager for the official salvors, Smit Salvage, said 80 containers had thus far been removed from the two flooded holds, leaving about 120 still to be uplifted. “Where necessary, divers are being used to connect cables to the containers, some underwater, which are then lifted out and steam cleaned.” Asked about the state of the hull after 27 days – this at the time of writing on July 23 – Gomes said: “There is nothing new to report. Water has entered the cargo holds and engine room and the salvage team continues to monitor the situation.” The salvage tug, Smit Amandla, which has been holding the Safmarine Agulhas firm, is still on contract but entered the port of East London earlier in the week, leaving the vessel unsecured. The vessel’s engines apparently failed as she was departing East London for Durban on the night of June 26 and she landed up on a sandbank near the Western Breakwater.
