The removal of the wreck of the OS 35 bulker has kicked off with both sections of the hull being placed on the semi-submersible vessel Fjord.
bulker has kicked off with both sections of the hull being placed on the semi-submersible vessel Fjord.The removal of the vessel from Gibraltar waters comes some 10 months after it collided with an LNG carrier in late August 2022.
Surveys of the seabed are underway to ensure that the wreck site of the OS 35 is completely cleared, and once these are concluded the operation will end.
The Government of Gibraltar said in a statement that the raising of the two sections completely out of the water released residues, including heavy oil residues into the protective boom that was deployed around the vessel, as expected.
Work is ongoing to clear these residues within the boomed area and to tackle the consequent sheening which is coming off the boomed section.
The Boskalis-owned Fjord semi-sub vessel is expected to remain in Gibraltar waters for a couple of weeks, as the hull sections are further secured and sea-fastened in preparation for the voyage to the final decommissioning site in the Netherlands.
Once preliminary works are completed in securing the hull sections as well as the clearing of the residues from within the boom, the vessel will move away from its current location to a suitable anchorage berth.
According to the Government, now that the hull sections are out of the water, there is no further danger of additional releases of residues from the wreck, once what has already been released is cleared. At the time of the incident, the vessel was carrying 183 tonnes of heavy fuel oil for its consumption, alongside 250 tonnes of diesel and 27 tonnes of lube oil.
Although the master of the wrecked OS 35 bulk carrier was looking at a possible two years in jail after pleading guilty to three charges related to the operation of the vessel, he was only given a suspended four-month sentence last month.
