Preliminary assessments of the capsized barge Orion-I indicated the re-floating work would commence in conjunction with oil siphonage from its tanks, which is still holding heavy furnace oil.
Experts, who conducted preliminary assessments of the barge, told Business Recorder on Tuesday: "The re-floating work would commence with the removal of heavy furnace oil from its tanks and the actual operation (re-floating) would be completed within a time period of five days, depending on weather conditions of the sea."
The source further said: "A slight sheen was observed on seawater near the barge during initial inspection, while small drops of oil were seen leaking from the oil vents (opening for air)." Malik Qutub, owner of Orion Bunkers, appointed contractor of an international salvager, SMIT International of Holland.
In this regard, a salvage master of SMIT Salvage International is scheduled to arrive shortly in Karachi with a salvage plan to start operation of re-floating and to assist Indus Divers during the operation.
Moreover, the Indus Divers conducted a detailed diving survey of the barge Tuesday morning. It was found that four out of six tanks were open to sea and no oil was found within tanks. The remaining two tanks, holding heavy furnace oil, are not leaking or breached into sea.
The Indus Divers, who have experience and capabilities of removing oil and salvage operations of the Tasman Spirit, have effectively sealed all possible leaks of the barge during its morning operation. There is no more danger of leaks emanating from the craft (barge), a source said. The next phase of the operation would be to pump out the remaining bunker oil to another barge through specialised equipment.
Divers have streamlined all required resources, including pumping systems, diving systems and recovery systems to remove oil, as per their contract with the owner Tuesday morning. The oil removal work is expected to take about 48 hours and recovered oil would be transferred to another oil barge and redelivered to owners in port. The SMIT Salvage has provided all technical advice in this regard, source said.
During the oil recovery phase, assessments would be made to upright and re-float the vessel. The source further said detailed analysis would be conducted with the help of salvage experts (including salvage master and naval architect) from SMIT Salvage.
Earlier, during a joint press briefing, manager of the Marine Pollution Control Department (MPCD) of Karachi Port Trust Arshad Yahya Usmani said the technical data and photographs of the oil barge were collected and sent to Australia.
He said the KPT has invited Dutch experts from Svitzer Wijsmuller Salvage B.V. to assess the scale of damage and advice the port authority on avoiding any spillage. Dutch experts would also help in re-floating the barge and oil siphonage to other barge, he added.
On Tuesday morning the sea was comparatively smooth and divers examined the nature of the accident, though, it was a risky affair due to high swell in the sea, he said. After an underwater assessment of the damage to the barge and its position on seabed, the two-member team returned to the base at the KPT facility.
Experts disclosed all information gathered by them would be sent to Australia to prepare a report. The report would then be sent back to the team in Karachi with suggestions or plans for the salvage operation.