Norwegian Feeder Ship Refloated and Towed into Port
The NCL Salten which created headlines last Thursday when it grounded on the lawn of a residence was refloated today, May 27, and has been brought into a local port for inspections. The authorities continue to look at the work rules and manning to understand if they contributed to the navigation officer falling asleep near the end of his watch and causing the ship to ground.
“We are relieved and happy that the salvage operation of the ship itself has gone so well, without complications or further damage to neither the ship nor the environment,” said Norwegian Container Line the charterer of the vessel. “NCL takes the incident very seriously,” the company said reporting it will continue its investigation after the vessel is brought to port.
Norwegian media NRK reports lines were secured to the vessel shortly after 1000 on Tuesday morning and the refloating operation took just about 30 minutes. On Sunday and Monday, containers had been removed from the bow of the vessel to lighten it. This morning, the manager of the operation told NRK, “This went better than expected.”
After being inspected, the vessel was towed to its original destination port (Kystverket)
The shipping company reported the vessel was being inspected by divers after it was refloated and before it was towed to port. It took about two hours to reach Orkanger, where the vessel was docked. NCL reports the remainder of the containers will be offloaded and that the ship will be more thoroughly examined. DNV is representing Cyprus as the flag state in the investigation. The Norwegian Coastal Administration reported it also had a pilot on board the tug, and that its the oil spill response vessel OV Hekkingen and the coast guard ship KV Njord were following the tow.
“We know there are a lot of questions raised about the incidents. NCL will continue to support the police in their investigation once the ship is safe at port in Orkanger. There, NCL will also proceed with our own investigation,” said the company. “We kindly ask for your understanding that we will not be able to comment further until these investigations are fully concluded.”
The police reported after the salvage was completed that they would begin interviewing the captain of the NCL Salten. He had not been on the bridge at the time of the grounding, but they want to investigate rest periods, watch schedules, and manning on the vessel.
Last Friday, the police charged the vessel’s second officer, a 30-year-old Ukrainian, with negligent navigation. The sole person on the bridge when the vessel grounded shortly after 0500 on May 22, the officer confirmed to the police that he had fallen asleep. He contends, however, that the alarms failed to sound on the bridge before the grounding.
Initial reports said the vessel suffered damage to its bow and forward ballast tanks. There were also two small landslides on the shoreline and the local authorities ordered residents to evacuate. There were no injuries reported to the crew or onshore.