NYK Sending More Teams to Assist with Crimson Polaris Oil Spill Clean Up

Japanese shipping company NYK Line will be sending additional workers to help clean up an oil spill from the wood chip carrier Crimson Polaris which broke up just off the coast of Japan earlier this month.

In its latest update on the incident, NYK said it plans to send eleven teams of 10 people each to assist with the clean-up by September 11th. By Monday, it had sent a total of three teams of 10 employees to area.

This all comes as efforts are underway to remove remaining fuel oil from the vessel, an effort that has been hampered by weather.

Crimson Polaris, which is operated by NYK, broke up after briefly running aground in heavy weather only about 2.5 miles off the coast of Port of Hachinohe, on the northeast coast of Japan’s Honshu island, back on August 11th. All crew members were rescued from the vessel prior to it breaking up.

The vessel was reported to be carrying 1,550 metric tons of heavy fuel oil and about 130 metric of diesel oil at the time of the accident. It’s unclear how exactly how much oil leaked and how much remains in the ship’s tanks, although we have seen reports indicating that two fuel tanks remain intact while a third tank had lost some 280 tons of heavy fuel oil.

NYK was chartering the 2008-built, Panama-flagged Crimson Polaris from owner MI-DAS Line S.A. The ship manager is reported to be Misuga Kaiun Co. Ltd.

NYK reported that Crimson Polaris’ hull initially cracked between the No. 5 cargo hold and the No. 6 cargo hold. Both sections remain at the site of the wreck, with the stern/accommodation/engine section having since rolled over while at anchor.