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Seychelles Patriot runs aground in Brazil |15 October 2014



MT Seychelles Patriot was expected to be back afloat by last night after running aground close to the Brazilian port of Santarem last week.

Speaking to the media in his office at the New Port, Seychelles Petroleum Company (Seypec) chief executive Conrad Benoiton said last night’s salvage operation was the second since MT Seychelles Patriot ran aground on shifting sand and mud banks in the middle of the Amazon River on Wednesday October 8, 2014

“MT Seychelles Patriot was involved in a marine hazard incident last Wednesday on the Amazon River under the supervision of two Brazilian pilots as required by the Brazilian Maritime Authority and within authorised navigational routing. It unfortunately encountered over a sand bank which is usual in large rivers.
 On account of current situations in the river itself these sand banks can shift around undetected at a very late stage and you will obviously make ground encounter. The tanker was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Manaus,” said Mr Benoiton.  
 
He added that the tanker, which first started its operations in April 2008, was authorised to be where she was when she ran aground at a depth of 9.6 metres, while the clearance depth for that part of the river is 24 metres.

“To minimise any structural factor on the vessel, Seypec has waited for various leverage of experts, including insurance personnel, to be on the vessel to ensure that all what is done is in conformity with laid down structural, navigational and salvage operations,” noted the Seypec boss.

He explained that two tugs were first sent to refloat the tanker but the operation did not start at all as one of the tugs had engine problem and the other had a gearbox problem.

“The captain was not happy and stopped the operation before it even started saying the two tugs did not have enough bollard power to salvage the tanker,” said Mr Benoiton who added that a bigger tug was commissioned for last night’s salvage operation which was expected to last between one and four hours.

Once set afloat, divers will verify if the 46-tonne capacity vessel has suffered any damage before it continues its voyage to Manaus carrying 29 tonnes of oil.

MT Seychelles Patriot was on its eighth voyage to Manaus City for a cargo discharge from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, on October 8 when the incident happened.

In a press release, Seypec says the tanker, built to high double hull structural specifications, remains in an uncritical state with respect to its structural integrity as assessed and confirmed by the classification society. No spillages of product or any injury to crew members have been recorded.

The release adds that on receipt of the grounding alert, the technical managers, the owners (Seypec), the insurance company, classification society and the charterer Petrobras, were all notified immediately, as well as the Santarem Port Authority who holds jurisdiction in the area. Within 24 hours the Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority (SMSA), the registry flag state, was also informed.

An initial attempt to re-float the vessel under her own steam was undertaken on the same day, however the attempt was unsuccessful. Coordinated by German Tanker Shipping GmbH, the salvage operation was put through its first phase by contacting a salvage specialist company, SMIT of Netherlands, who flew two salvage experts from Netherlands on Sunday October 12, 2014. A salvage plan was developed by Monday morning, approved by the classification society, the Santarem Port Authority and the insurance company.

The salvage experts arrived onboard the Seychelles Patriot on Monday morning. Also present were two representatives from the insurance company and representatives from the classification society, Germanischer Lloyd, who holds responsibility for safeguarding the structural integrity of the vessel.

The second re-floating exercise was attempted on October 13, 2014 at 6pm Brazilian time, (1am Seychelles time) following the arrival of the two tug boats by midday, all with the approval of the Brazilian Maritime Authority. Unfortunately, the exercise was later stopped by the on-site team as the two tugs were found to be too small in size, and developed mechanical failures which caused reduced bollard pull.

Yesterday, an extra tug was chartered from the neighbouring port of Santarem to aid the salvage operation, while the mechanical failures were being repaired on the two tugs previously chartered. Another re-floating attempt was planned for last night.

“All is being done to re-float the vessel with the utmost level of professionalism and care, guaranteeing the safety of the crew, the vessel and the environment,” adds the press release.

 

 

 

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