« Back to
overview
()
The cutting of the first compartment of the sunken ‘Tricolor’ is almost half way. Almost 15.2 meters have been cut. The salvage team is preparing to cut the enormous propeller shaft of the car carrier. In order to make that the cutting wire will work its way trough this shaft, the wire needs to be changed. At the moment, bad weather conditions on the site prevent divers from executing this work.
As soon as the weather conditions improve, the divers will start to change the cable. So far the cutting wire has functioned very satisfactory. It has cut very large parts of the engine room, which is one of the strongest sections of the vessel.
As anticipated by the salvage team, the wire now needs to be changed.
At this stage, work on the platforms ‘Vagant’ and the ‘Buzzard’ has stopped and the team has to wait until the divers are able to perform their work.
In a later stadium the floating sheerlegs ‘Asian Hercules II’ and the ‘Rambiz’ will position the separated sections on one of the ‘Giant’ semi-submersible barges. Weather permitting the cutting operation will continue as scheduled.
The barges will transport the sections to specially prepared sites in Zeebrugge (Belgium) where the cargo will be disposed. At those sites any materials that may have a detrimental environmental impact will be removed. Eventually the cargo will be dismantled and destroyed.
The TRICOLOR is a 1987 built Norwegian flagged vehicle carrier, which, in the early hours of 14 December 2002, was struck by KARIBA, a 1982 built Bahamian flagged container ship, in the French Exclusive Economic Zone some 20 miles north of the French coast in the English Channel. The TRICOLOR sank as a result of the impact of the collision and was eventually declared a total loss. In December 2002, French authorities ordered the wreck to be removed, as it was perceived to represent a danger to shipping and the environment.
The salvage of the TRICOLOR is being carried out by the ‘Combinatie Berging Tricolor’, a consortium consisting of: SMIT Salvage B.V., Scaldis Salvage & Marine Contractors N.V., URS Salvage & Maritime Contracting N.V., and Multraship Salvage B.V. The salvage contract was awarded to the consortium by Wilh. Wilhelmsen and Gard Services.
Combinatie Berging Tricolor
Lars Walder
Public Relations Manager CBT
Tel: +31 (0) 10 454 92 74
Mobile: +31 (0) 6 53 43 27 65
Mail: l.walder@smit.com |
