John Culatto
GIBRALTAR’S port has accepted new plans to remove the shipwreck of the OS 35 that beached 700 metres from Catalan Bay at the end of August.
It gives salvage and wreck removal company TMC Marine the green light to go ahead with breaking up and taking away the ship that caused an extensive oil spill last September.
TMC Marine chose Dutch company Koole Contractors for the task on October 21.
It then worked out in more detail how exactly Koole Contractors would carry out the job in its proposal to the Port.
TMC Marine presented the revised plans to the Gibraltar Port Authority on November 9.
Captain of the Port John Ghio’s approval gives the go-ahead for Koole Contractors to move into the area its large floating barges with cranes that can lift up to 500 tons.
According to Koole Contractors’ website, it owns four of these floating platforms.
The process follows the Port’s order to remove the OS 35 shipwreck before May 30.
“This critical milestone is an important step in ensuring that the removal of the wreck is completed within the timeframe established by the Gibraltar Port Authority in the Wreck Removal Notice,” Ghio said.
“It also confirms that the methodology and efficiency of the works envisaged are deliverable at the same time as being fully compatible with the strictest measures for the protection of the environment.”
The OS 35 beached itself off Catalan Bay after getting a ten metre gash from a collision with another ship while leaving the Bay of Gibraltar on August 29.
Police have since charged its captain for causing an oil spill which soiled local beaches and killed off wildlife.
READ MORE:
- Gibraltar port gives owners May 30 ultimatum to remove oil-polluting ship from its coastal grave
- BREAKING: Hull of stranded OS 35 bulk carrier breaks in two off Gibraltar’s Catalan Bay threatening a major oil…
- Cleaners tackle Gibraltar beaches hit by wind-driven new oil spill from beached ship
