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Rough Weather Hampers Response to Grounded Bulker on Sakhalin

A Russian salvor on the bow of the An Yang 2 (Morspas)
A Russian salvor on the bow of the An Yang 2 (Morspas)

Published Feb 11, 2025 7:35 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

Rough winter weather continues to hamper the response to the grounding of a Chinese bulker just off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East, and salvors are awaiting better conditions to inspect the wave-battered seaward side of the vessel. 

Last weekend, the 56,000 dwt bulker An Yang 2 grounded near the port of Nevelsk, on the southwestern end of Sakhalin. The vessel's port side is exposed to the surf, and Russia's Marine Rescue Service (Morspas) says that it has not yet been able to reach it to complete a dive inspection. 

The deputy director of Morspas' Sakhalin branch, Alexander Drebnoskok, said that the agency is assessing the possibilities of passing a towing line and pulling the bulker off the beach. In cooperation with the crew, the responders are putting together a clearer picture of the condition of the hull. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Russian Federation, a team of Morspas officials are working on salvaging a tanker that was damaged and partially sunk last weekend. In the early hours of Sunday morning, the tanker Koala suffered a series of three explosions in or near the engine room. The 24 crewmembers abandoned ship onto the pier, and the vessel's stern settled until it made contact with the bottom, Morspas said. 

No leaks of oil have been reported, and the cargo tanks are all believed to be intact. The vessel has been boomed off as a precautionary measure. 

The next step for the salvors is to lighter off the Koala's cargo of 130,000 tonnes of mazut, a Russian grade of heavy fuel oil. Mazut is so thick that it must be heated in order to pump it, but the tanker's boiler is in the engine room, and Morspas confirms that the engine room is now filled with seawater.

Morspas is working on alternative means of heating the cargo with steam so that it can be pumped off, and special pumps have been delivered from the port of Murmansk for the purpose of removing the thick, sludgy oil.