Salvage operation: Freighter "Sabine" lies on the water surface
The freighter "Sabine", which sank in the port of Emden in October, floated to the surface during a salvage operation on Saturday night. This was announced by the port operating company NPorts on request. The ship is stable, said a spokeswoman for NPorts. The work was continuing.
The salvage of the ship began on Friday. Divers had attached around 20 airbags to the ship in the harbor basin at a depth of eleven meters, which were gradually filled with air in order to raise the shipwrecked vessel.
Initially, the salvage team had assumed that the ship could have reached the surface by Friday morning. It turned out that the freighter was moving because of the airbags, but was not lifting off the bottom. Therefore, work began to pump out silt from under the ship.
The 85-metre-long and 9.50-metre-wide inland waterway vessel "Sabine" 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. After the incident, the cargo spread over the wreck was salvaged.
Following salvage, the freighter is to be scrapped in Denmark. A special ship is already waiting in Emden for the transport.
The successful raise of the "Sabine" on Saturday night was a relief, considering the numerous accidents that can occur during shipping operations. Despite reaching the surface, further efforts were needed to ensure the freighter wouldn't sink back due to the shipping company's concern for safety.
Source: www.dpa.com
