SVITZER Hired to Remove Oil from Sunken Baltic Ace

File photo of the Baltic Ace car carrier.

SVITZER, a member A.P. Møller – Mærsk Group specializing in marine salvage and response, has been hired to remove the fuel oil from the sunken car carrier Baltic Ace near Rotterdam, Dutch media reported Monday.

Nrc.nl reports that SVITZER hopes to do a first survey this week, if weather allows it. Press agency Novum writes that the Dutch Navy will first send divers to search the ship for bodies and after that SVITZER will start pumping out the oil. The operation is expected to take about 2 to 4 weeks. gCaptain has been told that the Baltic Ace was carrying about 466 tons of heavy fuel oil and about 55 tons of diesel oil at time of the collision.

The vessel, which sank last Wednesday evening after colliding with the Corvus J containership, lies in 36 meters of water just south of the beginning of the Eurogeul, a deep water channel that leads to the port of Rotterdam. The wreckage has been marked by buoys and is accompanied by the M/V Arca, a hydrographic research and oil spill response vessel owned by the Dutch Government. Part of the wreckage is believed to be just 6 meters below the surface.

11 crewmembers died in the collision. Five have been recovered and six remain missing and are presumed dead.

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