Seychelles tanker helps in salvage operation |09 May 2014

Seychelles Paradise was among other tankers chosen to carry out a salvage operation on another tanker, MT Tromso, which had run aground in the port of Diego Suarez, Madagascar on Sunday.

Pierre Prosper, shipping and crewing manager of the Seychelles Petroleum Company Ltd (Sepec), described the selection of the Seychelles tanker for such an operation as proof of the strong reputation of Sepec as a professional and reliable company.

“Sepec is proud to have a team that can meet clients’ demands in the entire region and it is extremely proud of the work done by Captain Wilton Ernesta of the Seychelles Ports Authority and his team during the salvage operation,” he said.

A specialist salvage company was brought in from South Africa to coordinate the operation, which involved removing in two stages diesel fuel on board the grounded tanker in order to enable it to float again, Mr Prosper noted.

In the first stage, a full cargo of 1325 MT was loaded on board the Seychelles tanker and discharged back to the terminal of Diego Suarez commercial port. After transferring the second full cargo of 1300 MT to MT Seychelles Paradise, MT Tromso floated and was transferred to the inner anchorage area of Diego Suarez. There the tanker subsequently went through various structural integrity inspections and was found safe to carry cargo and to sail under its own power.

MT Seychelles Paradise was then ordered to transfer the same cargo back to MT Tromso. The operation was completed in the early hours of May 4, 2014 and upon completion, MT Seychelles Paradise immediately departed Diego Suarez at 0630hrs local time, and sailed directly to Port Victoria where it arrived safely on May 7 at 1420hrs.

Captain Ernesta said it is highly probable that a navigation error could have caused the tanker to run aground but investigations being carried out will determine the real facts of the incident.

MT Seychelles Paradise is a versatile vessel, designed and managed to sail in international trade and to cover all possible demands from any client in the region. It has a deadweight of 1,785 metric tonnes, was launched on August 14, 2009 and delivered on October 30, 2009. It forms part of Sepec’s fleet of six tankers.