EMERGENCY RESPONSE: AMSOL ON CALL
AMSOL has for many years worked closely with South African Government institutions and other maritime industry role-players to provide support for salvage and emergency response operations in the region with the provision of specialist personnel, equipment and resources to proactively protect the South African coastline.
In the last week of May, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) and the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre (MRCC) coordinated emergency response to the immobilised large crude carrier, ‘Yuan Hu Hu’, with 27 crew onboard which ran into trouble offshore of the former South African Transkei Coastline whilst sailing from Singapore to Angola.
The tanker which was not carrying any cargo was safely anchored one nautical mile off Dome Bluff on the outskirts of Port St Johns and being monitored by the MRCC while the AMSOL tug ‘Siyanda’ departed Durban on the 28th of May to standby the tanker until the arrival of the emergency towing tug (ETV) Pacific Dolphin, chartered by AMSOL, which was deployed from Cape Town with an experienced Salvage Master on-board.
The ‘Pacific Dolphin’ successfully connected a towline on the 30th of May. AMSOL’s tug ‘Siyanda’, under Captain Michael Mdluli escorted the tug and tow to the Port of Durban where they arrived and handed the tanker over to the Transnet National Port Authority who executed the berthing of the tanker on the 2nd of June.
It’s also been a busy month for the Master, Officers, and Crew aboard the ‘SA Amandla’ tug, under contract to the South African Department of Transport. In the first week of May the tug towed the disabled cargo vessel ‘Ano Kato’ to Durban after connecting off of East London under the direction of the South African Maritime Safety Authority.
After returning to Cape Town, shortly thereafter on the 13th of May, the tug proceeded to assist a disabled fishing vessel in mid-Atlantic; effecting the connection in challenging weather conditions. The tug returned safely to Cape Town on 6th of June.
