Tomorrow, SA Maritime Safety Authorities will make another attempt to remove the stranded Eihatsu Maru from Clifton’s First beach. Last night, 2oceansVibe spoke to one of the men in charge, Samsa’s chief operations officer, Sobantu Tilayi. Many questions still remain about the reasons why the captain grounded the vessel, but Tilayi said the operation has now reached a critical stage.

Tilayi said given the weekend’s approaching spring tides, and the increased swell – peaking at five metres on Friday lunchtime – they’d look to make the “perfect pull” on the high tide tomorrow.

This morning, they are going to begin removing fuel from the vessel to prevent any worst-case scenario where the vessel has any holes punched into her from concealed rocks during the tow.

Tilayi said it was difficult to ascertain what lay directly below the trawler, but that they had maps of the area that indicated she is in no danger.

Tilayi also said that claims that the vessel was deliberately grounded were weak at the moment, as no proper investigation had yet been conducted because the removal of the vessel was Samsa’s number one priority.

Tilayi explained that the vessel itself was worth a fair amount to the owner, it was in good working order, and that it would be unlikely he’d give up a vessel this easily.

Although the tuna had now begun to rot, and wouldn’t be worth selling, the fuel was also another valuable asset to the owner.

Two previous attempts to tow the vessel from the beach have already been made, but both failed miserably.

Tilyai said this was because of the suction force, and friction created by the ship and the wet sand:

The vessel is lying at such an angle, and although it should be like pulling a toy car off the beach, the suction force created by the wet sand is remarkable and far greater than we anticipated.

It should have been a simple removal because she is tiny in comparison to what that tug can pull, but without a sufficient point from which to attach the rope to, this becomes very difficult.

That suction force is so strong that she’ll simply rip apart if we don’t do this properly. That’s where the environmental risk starts to become a greater factor.

The theory of a deliberate grounding remains highly plausible though, as the ship’s owner had not yet been found, and it wasn’t known if he had insurance or not at the time of the grounding.

The bill for the salvage operation is currently being footed by the national transport department, via a contract with Smit Amandla Marine – the lead salvage company involved in the operation.

It was a maritime expert that first proposed the theory of a deliberate grounding to 2oceansVibe. The expert, who wished to remain anonymous, has many years worth experience in dealing with trawlers, radio and satellite navigational systems.

He said, after studying the equipment aboard the vessel, that the fog should have played no role in the incident. It has also been established that the vessel’s engines are in working order.

The expert had this advice for the operation:

I’d use a Floating Marine Grade Fuel Transfer Hose line supported by buoys \ rope between the stranded vessel and a suitable vessel anchored off-shore. It’s going to be easier that way, with oil pollution protection measures intact. Other maritime role player’s pumping it to temporary storage facilities seems a waste of time: either 200 litre drums, or a temporary tank infrastructure.

They need to get between 80 – 100 tons towline exertion on the stern area, and there are various options available for that. The objective could be that the salvage tug picks up the slack and keeps the towline tensed, not pulling, but the objective is to exert pulling effort. If the stern \ vessel lifts \ the tug pulls slowly when the vessel drops, it slacks off, that way it would gradually release. The problem is 50 tons of tuna; you can’t dump it overboard on the beach area: it poses real hazards: stinking, rotting fish isn’t conducive. You would also attract every shark species into the Clifton area, and that you don’t want. You can transfer the tuna to another vessel offshore, it all depends on what vessel you can get in at high tide with enough draught clearance.

And in many ways, rigging alternatives to the beach is a waste of time and effort. Also, taking into account the trawler is sandwiched in between rocks, port \ starboard \ stern\ it’s not an easy salvage job. It’s fraught with problems and I can see it sticking out for a while. Getting rid of that load will help. Releasing that amount of weight is 100 tons more or less, and gives you a GRT weight of 300 – 350 tons. 80 – 100 tons less weight allows enough pulling effort to operate with.

The vessel is intact, but do the engines work for propulsion \ have they got rudder control – if they have, it will help. The problems are the existing weight: GRT 450 tons more or less, and the sand is the critical component. Making the vessel lighter, you run the risk of the vessel going more inshore with the wave action from behind. What can they do to make this trawler lighter after 90 \ 50 tons is removed: there are many alternatives at their disposal.

Other vessels reported issues with their GPS systems on Saturday morning at around the same time of the grounding, but there were two beacons that the Eihatsu Maru would have passed on its course, that would have alerted port authorities that she was too close to shore.

It has not been established as to why the port authorities hadn’t contacted the vessel to alert her of this fact.

Tilayi said that he understood that the public wanted answers, but that the authorities needed time to conduct the investigation into what led to the Eihatsu Maru grounding as awkwardly as it has.

Tilayi continued that they were now going to carry out a plan that 2oceansVibe’s source first suggested on Sunday: to fabricate and weld a strong towing point to the vessel because it didn’t have one, and to remove the fuel to lighten her, as well as prevent environmental risks.

The SABC spoke to Samsa CEO Commander, Tsietsi Mokhele, earlier:

It really is make or break now, and Tilayi remains positive that authorities will be able to remove her on the third attempt.

[Source: 2oceansVibe]

CLICK HERE IF YOU MISSED THE VIDEO OF THE PIZZA DELIVERY TO THE SHIP YESTERDAY