Efforts to refloat Heng Tong 77 resume

Crane carrier dragged back into the sea, will try to pull stranded ship today

KARACHI:

The efforts to refloat the stranded container ship, Heng Tong 77, which ran aground at the Sea View Beach, resumed on Sunday.

After a day-long struggle, technicians and labourers busy in the operation successfully pulled the crane barge back into water, ship agent Captain Asim Iqbal told the media.

He said the barge, brought to pull the stranded ship, itself got stuck in sand on shallow waters of the Sea View on August 11. The grounding was caused due to bad weather and technical problems on the second day of the refloating operation, which began on August 10.

According to Capt Iqbal, now that the crane barge was successfully towed into the sea on Sunday, it was ready to pull the ship into deep waters, "tides are high and the weather is good, we hope that significant progress will be made on Monday in rescuing the stranded Heng Tong 77."

The crane carrier, now anchored at a distance of 800 metres, was secured by doubled mooring ropes strong enough to hold the boat against strong tides which rise with the full moon, he said.

"The operation to refloat the ship will begin at 11am on Monday," he told the media explaining that the grounded ship will be gradually pulled into the sea during high tides and favorable winds for three days. "We need enough water to lift the vessel and the coming high tides will be just the right time to do so," Capt Iqbal said.

The first goal of the ship's re-floating is to drag the ship 500 to 600 metres from the shore into the sea, he said, adding that the engine of the ship will also be started after it goes to sea for 600 meters.

The tug boat involved in the re-floating operation is located at a distance of 2,700 metres from the shore which will hold the crane carrier during the operation and tow the ship after refloating.

The Heng Tong ship was stranded on the shores of Karachi on July 21. Efforts to evacuate it failed from August 10 to 12, after which the operation resumed on August 21.

The operation will continue till August 24 amid a forecast of high tides favorable for refloating the stranded ship.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2021.