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KARACHI, Sept 15: The operation for removal of the wreckage of the collapsed vessel, Tasman Spirit, is likely to begin in a week.
Two contracts pertaining to saving the stranded oil-tanker and its cargo also terminated on Saturday and now the owner of the ship and the P&I Club are expected to sign an agreement for the removal of the wreckage of the ship.
Port sources said the contract of Greek salvage company, Tsavliris, has already terminated and they are now technically required to demobilize within a period of five days. However, their possibility in the wreckage removal process cannot be ruled out as the firm has also participated in the recent tenders issued on behalf of the owner, sources said.
Another source said new salvagers are already on their way to Karachi and would be launching an operation within two or three days. The removal operation would take about two months.
During the last one week, salvagers from abroad have been visiting the port to carry out inspections. Those who have been approached with regard to the wreckage removal included international firms, like Wijsmuller and Smit of Holland and Titan of America, it was learnt.
The Tasman Spirit, carrying about 67500 tonnes of crude oil, had run aground on July 27 and since then it is believed to have flushed out about 30000 tonnes of oil in the sea.
The lighterage process of the ship was completed only last week and now the KPT is hunting for immediate removal of the wreckage of ship.
Meanwhile, about 300 bags filled with oil-soaked sand and other waste have been shifted to the city government’s designated landfill site Jam Chakra in Surjani town between Friday and Sunday.
The debris collected from Clifton and Sea View areas was collected from shoreline during the last couple of weeks as part of the beach-cleaning operation, which is yet to reach its peak.
The city government, under the expertise of Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, has prepared some pits where sand bags have been stored for further bio-degradation and safe scientific burial, said DCO Karachi, Mir Hussain Ali on Monday.
He said that the disposal of debris and sand would also be supervised by foreign experts who are expected here in a couple of days.
BEACH-CLEANING: The second phase of beach-cleaning operation will begin in the next 48 hours, adds PPI.
This was stated at the coordination committee meeting held on Monday under the chairmanship of chief secretary Dr. Muttawakkil Kazi. The committee reviewed the measures being adopted to clean the beach, as well as to improve the environment polluted by the oil spill.
The meeting was informed that bio-remediation method has been applied on an experimental basis to clean the worst oil hit areas of the Clifton beach.
The meeting observed that the assignment given to different agencies regarding survey of health, mangroves, marine life, ecology is going on satisfactory and the quality of fish is also being checked at the specialised laboratory which found that the fish is free of any contamination due to oil spillage from the ill-fated ship.
The samples of sand collected from the devastated beach are also being tested at the laboratory to ascertain whether the sand can be utilised for construction of roads.
