Container vessel sails after crash in CT

Ray Smuts THE PORT of Cape Town has been the recipient of several unwelcome bumps in recent weeks, the latest being a container vessel that was finally allowed to sail over the weekend after certain financial guarantees had been provided to the National Ports Authority by the vessel's owners/insurers. Apart from damage to the vessel Blue Sky, considerable destruction was also caused to the Table Bay tanker berth and pipes carrying oil, chemicals and sea water for fire fighting. One estimate put damage at "at least" R1 million. A few days earlier, this correspondent had photographed the 3 113-ton, German-owned, Antigua-registered, vessel in Robinson Graving Dock where she had undergone a total exterior repaint and some mechanical repairs prior to sailing for Luanda, Angola, a regular run. As she was being moved from G-berth to the landing wall after loading a mixed cargo that included perishables, her propulsion system apparently jammed in full-ahead mode, said port safety manager Captain Peter Stowe. Fortunately there were no tankers or chemical carriers in the port when the Blue Sky slammed into a concrete mooring dolphin on the basin side of the berth and pushed her bulbous bow into the berth, hitting and buckling the oil and chemicals pipes. She was pulled off the quay by two Portnet tugs and berthed at the landing wall. Fortunately there was no oil spillage. Mark Kilbride of Meihuizen Freight, South African agents for the owners Stahmer Shipping, told FTW temporary repairs had been effected to the vessel's front starboard side above the waterline and that she would probably return to Cape Town for further repairs. Another incident involved the luxury cruise liner Europa which damaged her stern in windy conditions after leaving her Victoria Basin mooring.