Author Topic: Cargo aground off Aveiro (Portugal)  (Read 9667 times)

Offline jdap

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Cargo aground off Aveiro (Portugal)
« on: January 19, 2013, 01:33:03 PM »
According to the news media, this morning at 8:26 local time during a heavy storm (winds up to 140km/h, waves up to 8 m), a cargo ship registered in the Cook Islands, apparently named "Marlu" (?), went aground on the sand banks next to the S. Jacinto area, off the Aveiro port entrance (which was closed, by the way, for safety reasons). The crew (apparently 6 seamen were on board, of which 5 from Turkey and 1 from Azerbeijan) were rescued by a helicopter, and are all well.

The ship was heading for Lisbon to re-fuel. Apparently the incident happened when the engine room was floaded, and the crew lost control.

News were reported by the head of the local Maritime Police in a radio interview (provided below, in Portuguese):

http://www.tsf.pt/PaginaInicial/Vida/Interior.aspx?content_id=3002997

No photos of the grounded ship are available yet.

Offline jdap

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Re: Cargo aground off Aveiro (Portugal)
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2013, 04:22:16 PM »
The Portuguese Navy website now reports that the ship's name is "MERLE" (IMO: 8918306), and confirms the rescue of the crew:

http://www.marinha.pt/PT/noticiaseagenda/noticias/Pages/SalvamentodetripulantesdonaviomercanteMERLEaposencalhe.aspx

Photos of this vessel are available here:

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1511419

Offline holedrille

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Re: Cargo aground off Aveiro (Portugal)
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2013, 04:49:44 PM »
Was not this one of the fleet laid up in Hull for some months following the bankruptcy of their owner. This would be the first trip under new ownership. Oh dear!
Holedriller

Offline jdap

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Re: Cargo aground off Aveiro (Portugal)
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2013, 02:28:21 PM »
Yesterday was Sunday, and many onlookers took adavantage of the milder weather to explore the area where the ship is grounded. A Portuguese newspaper has published several photos of the area and of the ship stuck on the sandy bank. Ship photos are included in the following photo set, starting at photo n

Offline jdap

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Re: Cargo aground off Aveiro (Portugal)
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2013, 10:23:00 AM »
Those with interest in hydrographic research may wish to take a look at the news item below, published at the website of the Portuguese Navy, and reporting oceanic buoy measurements during the heavy storm that was with all likelyhood the main cause for the grounding of the MERLE on Saturday morning (19/1):

http://www.marinha.pt/PT/noticiaseagenda/noticias/Pages/Registadasondasde19metrosduranteotemporaldofimdesemana.aspx

The 4 charts provided are of particular interest.

The vessel went aground between Leixões and Nazaré, roughly half way between the two locations.

Wave heights recorded for those two locations were the following:

           Mean value (m)              Peak value (m)
Leixões       9.7                           15.6

Nazaré       12.0                           19.4

These values are absolutely abnormal along the Portuguese West coast, and were recorded during the morning of the 19th.

They may help explain why a 84 m long cargo vessel, unloaded, could not make it through, even if only a formal investigation will be able to assess the real causes of the incident (for instance, to determine how the engine room got flooded in the first place).
 
 
 
« Last Edit: January 23, 2013, 10:43:30 AM by jdap »

Offline jdap

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Re: Cargo aground off Aveiro (Portugal)
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2013, 09:35:50 AM »
I visited the site on the 14th Feb.

A set of photos of the grounded vessel is now available in the database. Please refer to:

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1745307

The ship is roughly 4 miles to the North of the Aveiro port entrance. The coastal area where she was washed to during the storm of the 19th January is formed entirely of sand dunes, so the ship does not present any serious damage to the hull, as a result of this accident. It is buried in sand maybe 1,2-1,5 m deep. She is practically level, with a slight tilt to starboard. The propeller shaft is buried and not visible at all, and the propeller itself is for 2/3 of its diameter stuck in sand. The rudder seems to be the major cause for concern, as it is off its vertical plan, at an angle of some 15

Offline BarrySmith

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Re: Cargo aground off Aveiro (Portugal)
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2013, 09:46:43 AM »
Very interesting. The salvage costs would almost certainly exceed the insured value making her a CTL. The first priority should be to pump the bunkers and luboils off and any other potential pollutants such as paint etc. Does anyone know if she has a cargo onboard or was in ballast?

Offline jdap

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Re: Cargo aground off Aveiro (Portugal)
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2013, 10:16:29 AM »
An unfortunate story...

MERLE was apparently on her first voyage after having been released by the British authorities after having been arrested at Hull for several months on court orders (owner's bankruptcy).

At time of the accident, she was reported sailing empty and on low fuel (a bunkers stop had been programmed at Lisbon, further South, if I remember correctly).

Press reports from the time of the accident indicated that the risk of a direct environmental hazard at the scene was modest, as she had only 10 tons of potentially harmful fluids on board. In effect, protection barriers had initially been dispatched to the scene after she went aground, but I could not see any trace of them almost 1 month later. This probably meaning that authorities did not believe she posed a threat to the local environment per se.

In any case, I was surprised to see that even the entire crew had vanished.

Offline jdap

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Re: Cargo aground off Aveiro (Portugal)
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2013, 01:38:12 PM »
The end of the story: she is now dead.

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1893441

 

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