Lifting freighter "Sabine" with airbags and pontoon
The salvage of the sunken freighter "Sabine" has begun in the port of Emden with great effort and heavy equipment. Divers positioned around 20 airbags in the harbour basin eleven meters below the ship, which were gradually filled with air from Friday morning in order to raise the shipwrecked vessel. In the evening, the freighter was still under water, said a spokeswoman for the port operator Niedersachsen Ports (NPorts). The salvage operation will probably take until at least Saturday.
Initially, the salvage team had assumed that the ship could reach the surface by late morning. However, the maneuver had to be carefully balanced and would take time. In addition, it later transpired that the freighter had moved slightly due to the airbags, but had not yet detached from the bottom. In the afternoon, additional work was therefore started to pump out silt from under the ship, said the port operator's spokeswoman.
There was probably still a suction effect, similar to a rubber boot in mud. The workers were prepared for a less than optimal salvage operation and had all the necessary equipment on site. Once the wreck has reached the surface, it will be finally lifted with a submersible heavy-duty pontoon. The spokeswoman for the port operator said that the port was "bustling with activity".
The 85-metre-long and 9.50-metre-wide inland waterway vessel "Sabine" broke apart and sank on 5 October at Emden's Südkai while being loaded with a good 1100 tons of grit for reasons as yet unknown. The crew managed to save themselves. Since the accident, the cargo spread over the wreck has been salvaged.
"The challenge is that we can't see anything at all," said salvage manager Stephan Müller. The divers have to feel everything, added the NPorts spokesperson. There had been various dives to investigate the damage. "We assume that the ship as a whole will hold," explained Müller. However, it could happen that the ship breaks up during salvage. He ruled out environmental hazards due to leaking oil. He assumes a lifting weight of 500 to 550 tons, but the lifting capacity is around 850 tons.
After salvage, the "Sabine" is to be scrapped in Denmark. A special ship is already waiting in Emden for the transport.
Despite the successful filling of airbags, the freighter "Sabine" experienced minor shifts, leading to additional work in pumping out silt to prevent accidents during hoisting. Once the vessel is raised, it will be lifted using a submersible heavy-duty pontoon for safe shipping to Denmark for scrapping.
Source: www.dpa.com
