Singaporean ship stranded off Mombasa coast rescued

Ill-fated MV JS Danube being pulled from coral rocks where it grounded on Saturday. The ship, loaded with 46,000 tons of coal went aground while entering the Port of Mombasa. The rescue was led by Kenya Ports Authority General Manager Operations Captain Twalib Khamisi. [PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD]

A team of South African, Dutch and Kenyan vessel rescue experts have re-floated a Singaporean ship that had been stranded off the Mombasa port after running aground last week.

On Saturday evening, MV JS Danube, laden with 46,000 metric tonnes of coal with 46 Ukrainian crew was re-floated and tugged into anchorage at Kilindini harbour.

Yesterday, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) General Manager Captain Twalib Khamis told The Standard the ship is now waiting to discharge her cargo in berth number ten.

According to reports, the ship, laden with cargo imported by a Kenyan cement manufacturing firm sailed from Egypt through Namibia’s Walvis Bay port.

MV JS Danube then hit a coral rock in low tide as she sailed into Kilindini harbour, forcing her to stop.

On Friday, rescue efforts were suspended when one of the four tug boats sent to pull it into the port punctured a hole in her side. Engineers laboured overnight to seal the hole and prevent her from taking in water.

The Standard has established that a joint salvage operation undertaken by KPA and Smit International of Holland, the world’s largest salvage company bore fruit on Saturday evening.

She was steered into the port around 4pm by Captain Khamis and Chief Pilot Captain William Ruto.

The vessel was seen anchoring around the Port Reitz creek waters, escorted by two powerful KPA tug boats Nyangumi and Kiboko.

POOR WEATHER

Captain Khamis who supervised the exercise said about 3,000 tonnes of coal were removed from the vessel and loaded at sea onto bulk carrier MV Andrea, belonging to Alpha Logistics, which had been dispatched from Mombasa port.

“This reduced stress on MV JS Danube, which was able to break free from the rock where it got stuck. Tug boats towed it for a while before it started sailing back to harbour,” Captain Khamis said.

He said unfavourable weather conditions and low tides delayed the salvage operation.

“For four consecutive days, there has been a very low tide. At the time the vessel went aground on April 27, the tide stood at 2.3 metres.

We hope today it will reach a high of 3.2 metres, making it sufficient to allow the salvage crew examine the vessel and tow it to port,” Captain Khamis had said earlier.

He added that at the time of the accident, the ship suffered minimal damage to its side when it landed heavily. It is manned by a 24-member crew of Ukrainian nationality.

KPA issued a statement last week saying MV JS Danube ran aground at 22:40hrs on April 27, at approximately two miles north of the Mombasa port’s channel entrance.

“The grounding happened when the vessel was swept by heavy swells and strong winds to the shore as she approached to pick a KPA pilot to guide her into the harbour,”said the KPA statement.

The ship is a bulk carrier built in 2012 and owned by Green Ship Bulk 3 PTE Ltd of Singapore.

MINIMAL DAMAGE

The Master of the vessel reported the grounding to the KPA control tower after which KPA immediately activated its emergency rescue plan and dispatched crafts and personnel within an hour.

“The first attempt to re-float the vessel was made at 03:00hrs on April 28, but was unsuccessfully due to low tides.

At 08:30hrs on the same day, KPA mobilised additional resources, including harbour tugs, pollution control and rescue boats to make another attempt and re-float the vessel,” said KPA.

At one time, the operation was suspended to allow assessments on the structural condition of the vessel.

A team of experts, including naval architects and salvage masters from Netherlands and South Africa arrived on April 29, to carry out the assessment.

The assessment indicated that the vessel was intact and only slightly damaged.

“She was not in any danger of breaking up. There is also no risk of pollution as the ship’s oil tanks are located above the water line and well protected by a double skin hull,” KPA added.

KPA indicated that they will carry out a comprehensive investigation to determine the cause of the grounding.