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The tugboats “BB Ocean” and “Normand Drott” were on Wednesday morning at the Dutch cargo ship “Eemslift Hendrika” waiting to be prepared for towing.
Four specially trained rescue crews from the Netherlands arrived at Vigra on Tuesday night to be flown out and set off on the cargo ship, where they will receive and attach the tow rope to the boat.
A helicopter was at 09.30 in the area by the casualty to observe. This is the same helicopter that will transport salvage personnel on board the casualty.
They are on their way back to Ålesund to pick up the crew, and plan to fire down four people at 11-11: 30, the Coastal Administration informs.
The weather has calmed down since yesterday, there are now 5-8 meters of waves, small to stiff gales and snow showers, according to the Norwegian Coastal Administration.
PS> Is the crane boom still hanging on those wires?? (Likely)
If so, hopefully deep enough not to knock against the hull as the ship rolls.
No problem for bringing her into sheltered waters along this part of the coast
Here the tugboats are out by «Eemslift Hendrika», Wednesday morning. According to the plan, they will tow the casualty ashore. Photo: The Coast Guard ship «KV Sortland»
PS> The AHT Princess just continued on her way to Kristiansund.
MOTOR VESSEL EEMSLIFT HENDRIKA listed (tilting) on her starboard side off coast Norwegian waters on April 05, 2021. The vessel was carrying a yacht and other large boats on deck. Also 350 tonnes of heavy fuel and 50 tonnes of diesel that could result in spillage if the vessel capsizes.
The distressed vessel left Bremerhaven, Germany to deliver its cargo in Kolvereid, Norway.
All 12 crew members were evacuated safely, some from the open sea.
These are somewhat similar seas to what I was in on a 30 foot sailboat crossing the Pacific from Honolulu to San Francisco. The entire trip was 25 days, and the last nine days were sailed in conditions like this. Actually a smaller boat does better in these conditions than a larger one. A large vessel gets across two waves, but a small boat is just riding up and down one at a time. It’s more like a fishing bobber. Notice how the big ship goes bow down into the waves near the end of the video. That’s really bad. The crew must have been very scared if they were willing to jump off into the ocean. Spotting a person in the water can be nearly impossible in all the white water. Leaving a ship that is still floating is extremely dangerous. Not smart at all, in my opinion. Again they must have been overcome by extreme fear.
I’m sorry about starting up a new thread, This forum is harder to navigate than the Suez canal in a strong wind. This incident is a very similar to the Modern Express. Although this seems even tougher to deal with given the seas it’s in right now. The bow is plunging under and posters are trying to figure out where and how they can attach a tow line. Best hope may be for an improvement in the weather. The crew must have been scared out of minds to jump into the sea. Maybe the helicopter was already there at that point, I don’t know. The Ever-Whatever caused more disruption, but in my opinion was easier to deal with than this will be. One crew jumps off and some braver guys have to board the listing bucking bronco. Where are the women when you need them?
The first 8 crew members were lifted off from the deck.
When the last 4 had to abandon it was getting even rougher and turning dark. The helicopter pilot asked them to jump in the sea since that was safer for the rescue man and the survivors. Normal practise apparently.
PS> They had good survival suits on and properly donned so didn’t get wet or cold. When they arrived at the hotel the local municipality arrange shops to open up and supply clothing and shoes among other basic necessities:
“10 suitcases, 2 backpacks, 2 mobile phones, 1 mobile phone charger, 5 packs of cigarettes, 3 shampoos, 7 deodorants”
Latest:
Due to the weather in the area around the casualty “Eemslift Hendrika”, the rescue operation must be postponed until tomorrow morning, the Norwegian Coastal Administration writes on its website on Wednesday. - Life and health are always the first priority during an incident like this, and it must be safe to carry out the rescue, says emergency director Hans Petter Mortensholm.
The driftway calculations show that the danger is small for the ship to run aground. Better weather has been announced tomorrow, and there is a greater probability that the action can be carried out successfully, according to the Norwegian Coastal Administration.
The tugboats “BB Ocean” and “Normand Drott” were on Wednesday at the Dutch cargo ship “Eemslift Hendrika” waiting to be prepared for towing.
Four specially trained rescue crews from the Netherlands arrived at Vigra on Tuesday night, and were scheduled to be flown out and set off on the cargo ship, where they were scheduled to receive and attach tow ropes to the boat. But this did not happen on Wednesday.
It is 17.7 miles from land and drifting at about 2 knots, if they can’t get a tow line on it could be aground in just over 9 hours. Obviously that depends which direction it drifts if it gets closer to land, unfortunately the wind is forecast to back to a more North Westerly direction later.
Wednesday night at 6.30 pm, the work boat AQS Tor was rescued, VG writes . The green boat fell off the deck of the “Eemslift Hendrika” on Tuesday, after the cargo ship crashed in high waves off northwestern Norway.
The Coast Guard announced that they would concentrate on rescuing “Eemslift Hendrika”, and that the owners of the work boat, AQS, should hire someone to salvage the boat themselves. Stadt Sjøtransport was hired in, and had actually planned a rescue operation on Thursday, but then announced that they would try as soon as it was allowed. So it happened on Wednesday night.
It is good news to put it that way. You get very relieved when you get such a message, says technical manager of AQS, Kristian Hjertvik to VG. He received the message just before 6.30 pm on Wednesday.
He further states that one of AQS 'own tugboats will pick up the boat and tow it up to Trøndelag. The boat has a value of NOK 66 million.
The brand new boat AQS Tor was under transport to its new owners AQS, after being built by Moen Marin in Croatia. The boat was on deck on the “Eemslift Hendrika” which crashed outside Northwest Norway on Monday.
“Eemslift Hendrika” was actually supposed to be rescued on Wednesday, but the action has been postponed until Thursday. If the boat runs aground along the coast, it can lead to a major environmental disaster with oil spills along the coast.
Good news that the AQS Tor will be saved, the unfortunate incident has provided them and the Moen Marine with lots of free publicity, they obviously build good ships if they can survive an ordeal like this.
I don’t understand how the Norwegian Coast Administration say the grounding risk is low for the Eemlift Hendrik, it is drifting directly for land now, it is about 10.5 miles from land now at a speed of about 2.4 knots, it could be aground in about 4 and a half hours.
The worst place for her to ground would be at Kjerringa (AKA West Cape)
with the semi-submerge rocks Bukketjuvane and Gamlå just outside.
Any spill here would drift into both Ervika and Hoddevika and spoil the sandy beaches there for years. (Both famous with surfers)
On Wednesday afternoon, the tugs «BB Ocean» and «Normand Drott», as well as KV «Bergen» and KV «Sortland», are in the vicinity of the casualty. A towing operation will take place north of Stad, says the emergency director.
- A towing operation will take place north of Stad. The helicopter will go from Florø to the casualty on Thursday morning. Then a decision is made when one sees the tow and where it is best to take the vessel in. But it is likely that the vessel will be taken into the Ålesund area.
The Norwegian Coastal Administration receives assistance in finding a town that is well suited for anchoring, but it must be possible to move in an area that is sheltered from the weather that will be for the next two days. The vessel is then stabilized before being transported ashore.
Salvage crews have been put on board the Eemslift Hendrika and rigs for towing forward and aft of the ship.
The action is state-led and thus not under the auspices of the company that the shipping company has engaged.
This workboat was built in Krotia for the Aquaculture Services company AQS. It was designed by the Norwegian company Moen Marin which has a number of the same vessels on order.
Update 21.30: The Norwegian Coastal Administration reports that all of the crews are on board the casualty and are in the process of rigging for towing both forward and aft.
Update 22.17: Captain at KV Bergen, Kenneth Dyb, confirms to Sunnmørsposten that the salvage crews have had a tow attached to the front of the «Eemslift Hendrika». There are four people on board the casualty.
Now that they have a tow, the rescue crews have bought themselves better time.
- Operation towards land has been stopped, and we have control of the ship, says ship manager at KV Bergen, Kenneth Dyb.
He says that they are working on turning the ship to get more favorable conditions to get a second tow attached aft. Then they will tow the boat to deep, calm waters to get more favorable working conditions to stabilize the ship.
- We have found that towing it to Breisundet is most appropriate, says Dyb. He can not say anything about where the ship will eventually be towed to the quay.
Breisundet is located between Gurskøy and Hareidlandet. Dyb says that the arm of the crane that has broken off probably hangs in wires under the ship, so they need deep water.
