A container ship broken down and adrift for several hours, off Pas-de-Calais
By Amandine Vachez
Published on
It took several hours and various delicate stepsto bring back a broken down ship adrift, off Pas-de-Calais, this beginning of the week. On Monday December 26, 2022, following engine damage, a container ship sent a message fromto alertat the Cross, Regional Operational Center for Surveillance and Rescue, which helped the mastodon return to the coast.
Main engine failure
The Prémar, Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea, details this towing operation, in a press release, returning to the stages which led the ship to be repatriated to the coasts, at the level of the port of Dunkirk (North) .
Monday morning, the container ship HSL Nike, bound for Rotterdam and circulating in the traffic separation scheme (DST) North, reports to the Cross Gris-Nez that a damage has occurred to its main engine. He anchored off Cap Gris-Nez, under the supervision of the Cross, which regularly contacts the edge to ensure the progress of the actions in progress, details the Prémar.
“After a full day of investigations carried out by the crew, the breakdown has not been resolved. The weather conditions on site have strengthened and the mooring line is slipping. The ship then begins to drift, so it drops its second anchor to stop this drift and allow the crew to resume investigations on the main engine, ”continues the Prémar.
Faced with this delicate situation and with no reliable prospects for repairs, the Cross Gris-Nez had the assistance and salvage intervention tug (RIAS) Abeille Normandie from Boulogne set sail, in order to be able to intervene quickly to take the ship under tow if need.
The vessel towed in emergency the following day
In the middle of the night, the interventions made by the crew are still not conclusive. The maritime prefect, in conjunction with the shipowner, then decided to have the HSL Nike taken under tow by the Abeille Normandie to take it to the quay.
Under the coordination of CROSS Gris-Nez, the container ship raises its two mooring lines so that the RIAS can pass a tow. In connection with the armament, the port of Dunkirk was chosen to carry out the repairs there. The convoy arrived at the port of Dunkirk at the end of the day.
“This towing is the first emergency towing carried out by the RIAS Abeille Normandie chartered by the French Navy since last June”, specifies the maritime prefecture.
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