Navy salvages Turkish ship in distress

Rafik Jalaldeen

The Navy salvaged a Turkish ship carrying Sulphuric Acid which was in distress in the seas off Mullaitivu yesterday morning following a leak in the hull of the ship.

The Turkish owned Merchant Tanker Grandba carrying Sulphuric Acid from Tuticorin to Kakinadan was abandoned in the seas off Mullaitivu due to a leak in the hull.

Navy spokesman Captain D.P.K. Dassanayake said sailors launched an emergency salvage operation to rescue the Turkish owned ship.

“The ship was abandoned in the seas off Mullaitivu, Foul Point- a few nautical miles away from the Trincomalee Light House,” he told the Daily News.

Overloaded with Sulphuric Acid, MT Grandba (IMO No: 8030269; Call Sign: TCSV9 and port of registry: Istanbul, Turkey) had commenced the voyage from Tuticorin Harbour on Thursday and was heading for its next port Kakinadan, India.

“During passage, she developed defects in its cargo tanks and approached the Sri Lankan Coast off Trincomalee without any intimation when detected by the Sri Lanka Navy Coastal Radar.

Following investigations launched by Sri Lanka Navy vessels, it was revealed that she was communicating with its agents to repair the vessel being in position (08 24.3Aø N and 81 29.3Aø E) from Monday morning,” he added. Subsequently, the Navy received a distress message from the Main Search and Rescue Coordination Center in Italy indicating MT Grandba needed assistance due to an acid leakage from cargo tanks to ballast tanks saying the ship was in danger.

Captain Dassanayake said Navy vessels having verified the legitimacy of the vessel approached the disabled Tanker and provided assistance to tow the vessel away. However, its crew abandoned their vessel and Sri Lanka Navy rescued them, he said. He said Naval troops boarded the tanker and found that its cargo tanks were damaged. Its Sulphuric Acid was leaking into ballast tanks.

It has been found that this can lead to environmental implications in Sri Lankan waters and coastline. He reiterated that the Navy had taken measures to tow the tanker to deep sea if necessary. “The salvage operation is still continuing. Agents of the vessel are making arrangement to provide a salvage tug for possible towing to the deep sea,” he added.

The Navy has informed the authorities in Turkey of the incident through Government channels.