May deadline set for scrapping of Agulhas

RAY SMUTS
AN UNUSUAL sight will greet East Londoners in mid-January when the fore section of the wrecked container ship, Safmarine Agulhas, is hauled ashore to be totally dismantled for the scrap yard. Unlike breaker yards in countries like Bangladesh, where this kind of operation is apparently done manually, Mammoet Salvage will be doing it mechanically. Martijn Kuipers, MD of Mammoet Southern Africa, which is supplying much of the specialist equipment including four huge cranes, told FTW that a series of eight Dutch-manufactured “pullers’ - each capable of moving 375 tons - would be used to drag the bow section ashore, to be followed later by the stern section. The vessel broke in two after weeks of grounding forces, following a number of unsuccessful attempts by Smit Salvage to pull her free. “We are progressing on schedule. The entire superstructure has been removed and emergency divers have recovered about 35 submerged containers in the bow section, leaving a further 65 to the rear of the vessel.” The operation started on October 10, deploying a work force of 60. In terms of the salvage contract, Mammoet must complete the operation in 230 days which would be the end of May. The ten-year-old Liberian-registered vessel was bound for Durban on June 26 when she ran aground off East London’s western breakwater.