Almost half of the steel in the stranded bulk carrier’s cargo has been removed by wreckage diggers, as reported by Olive Press.
Removing cargoes
Gibraltar is 700 metres away.
The Gibraltar Port Authority claimed that cranes had removed more than 17,000 tonnes of cargo from the sinking ship by the end of March 16.
Since the end of August when it was thrown aground following a collision, the OS 35 has been resting in the shallows 700 metres from the famous Catalan Bay.
Inside the cargo hold, less than 16,000 tonnes of steel are still there.
Currently, cranes remove 600 to 900 tonnes of cargo every day.
Captain’s satisfaction
The dismantling and removal of the ship’s hull will come next.
A brand-new barge that can sink itself is currently sailing from Rotterdam to Gibraltar in order to remove the hull.
Towards the end of March, the Fjord will arrive.
The Port John Ghio’s captain expressed his satisfaction with the pace the salvage teams were making in removing the cargo from the OS35.
It’s also quite encouraging that the submersible Fjord is travelling to Gibraltar.
This enabled us to remove the debris as soon as we were physically able to do so without holding up the process.
Pollution
Between February and March, the beached ship was pummeled by a succession of easterly storms.
They launched oil tarballs, propelled by raging winds and enormous waves, in the direction of Gibraltar beaches.
Oil from Sandy Bay, Catalan Bay, and Eastern Beach was cleaned up by the Contractors P&I club.
Also, it provided assistance to La Linea officials whose beaches were impacted by pollution.
The gash that caused the OS 35 to sink started initially on the port side and has since spread to the starboard side.
The bilge keel, located at the bottom of the ship’s hull, is currently the sole thing keeping it together.
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Source: Olive Press
