Attempts to Move Containership CSCL Indian Ocean Aground in Elbe Successful
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
The last five days stuck in Elbschlick 400-meter (1,312 feet) CSCL Indian Ocean, the 19,000 teu vessel aground on the river Elbe, owned by China Shipping Group Co., is available again.
After several failed attempts to budge the containership salvage teams were preparing to refloat the vessel during a spring tide on Tuesday.
The attempt to tow the vessel was scheduled for 2 a.m. Tuesday morning when high water is expected to be 1.2 meters above the average high tide due to a spring tide. Up to 12 tugs with a total bollard pull of 1,085 tons was involved in the operation
As planned, the towing test began around 2:00 PM. The south wind over the North Sea and the spring tide of the new moon the flood was just over 1.20 meters higher than normal. The portion of the same was closed for the duration of the maneuver.
Since the grounding of the ultra large container ship CSCL Indian Ocean last Wednesday night, crews have worked to lighten the ship and dredge soil from around the vessel in preparation for the next towing attempt scheduled for early Tuesday morning.
The vessel, which stranded on February 3 around 25 km ahead of the Port of Hamburg due to a technical failure, was steered to the side of the fairway to keep the navigation channel free for other ships.
According to local media, the incident has sparked controversies as local politicians, residents and environmentalists expressed concerns that the risk of incidents in the area is increasing alongside the size of vessels.