KARACHI, Sept 7: The removal of Tasman Spirit wreckage is likely to be completed in three months, since the operation involves cutting and lifting of wreckage through floating cranes.

The Karachi Port Trust officials have expressed concern over the lacklustre response of salvagers regarding removal of wreckage, which is lying too close at the mouth of the channel.

According to sources, the wreckage may pose a serious threat for movement of other ships also.

Senior KPT official informed the PPI that owners of the ship had not given any notice to the salvagers, headed by Nicholas Papas, to finish their operations.

“At least five days notice is needed to be given to end the Lyod’s open letter given to the salvagers by the owner, and it has not been given till now,” the official added. However, the KPT is worried about presence of wreckage close to the channel and they are pressing the case with P & I club also.

According to sources, the agreement between the salvagers and the owners had been about lighterage only, but clearing of the wreckage was a specialized job.

Regarding the process of removing wreckage, the official informed that there were only four firms having expertise in this field in the world and only two of them had floating cranes, which could lift up to 1,500 ton weight.

The process involved cutting the wreckage in pieces with a chain saw, that was operated by tugs from both ends, after which the sand that had accumulated in it would be flushed out, the official said.

The pieces would be picked by cranes, to be placed at another boat or tug for shifting, whereas the rear part of the ship would be cut in half and pulled back, he added.

However, the total clearing of wreckage might take up to 2 to 3 months, soon after it was started, the official said and added that the work would not be disturbed due to bad weather conditions after September.

The sources said that a number of ship breakers had started to approach the local agents to acquire wreckage of Tasman Spirit.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has started compiling the reports prepared by its sub-committees constituted to assess the damage to environment, marine life, land and forests by the oil spillage from the broken vessel, Tasman Spirit.

The four sub-committees were formed by involving government departments, autonomous bodies, educational institutes and NGOs. Their reports contained expert opinion on the impact of the oil spillage and slick. The aim of setting up separate committees was to distribute workload so that the task could be completed on time.

The importance of their reports is that a realistic picture would emerge to reflect the overall impact of the disaster on the affected sea and land area, the people and coastal habitat. The experts’ views would also provide a guideline for an effective handling of the situation in future.

In its report the SEPA has highlighted its results of tests of the air samples collected from different points of the affected areas, from Sheerin Jinnah Colony to Kinara Restaurant, and also the results of the gas chromotography tests in SEPA labs conducted on air samples using balloons and metallic containers.

The SEPA report reveals an increased presence of three gases — sulphurdioxide, carbon-mono oxide and benzene — at varying levels, up to 45ppm, in the last week of August. The international standards specified by the Occupational Safety Health Association for human being is 1ppm for an eight-hour exposure.—PPI