On December 5, 2012, the car carrier Baltic Ace sank in the North Sea with more than 1,400 cars on board after a colliding with a containership near the entrance of the main shipping channel leading to port of Rotterdam, claiming the lives of 11 crew members. The ship came to rest at a depth of just 35 meters, posing a threat both to the environment and navigation in one of … [Read more...]
Baltic Ace Salvage Suffers Major Setback
Preparations for a planned attempt to the lift the sunken Baltic Ace car carrier from the seafloor near the port of Rotterdam has been abandoned because damage to the ship is worse than originally thought, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment said Tuesday. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, specifically the bureau known as … [Read more...]
Boskalis and Mammoet Start Operation To Raise Baltic Ace Car Carrier
AMSTERDAM, June 3 (Reuters) - Dutch companies have started a weeks-long operation to raise the Baltic Ace car carrier, which collided with a cargo ship in 2012, killing 11 crew and sending 1,400 cars to the bottom of the North Sea, the government said on Tuesday. Boskalis and Mammoet Salvage were contracted to remove 540,000 litres of fuel, extract the automobiles and raise … [Read more...]
Salvors to Remove Sunken Baltic Ace Near Rotterdam
The Dutch Government is getting ready to award the final salvage contract for the complete removal of the sunken Baltic Ace car carrier that continues to pose a threat to the environment and ships entering the port of Rotterdam. Dutch maritime service provider Royal Boskalis Westminster said Thursday that the Dutch Department of Public Works intends to award the contract to … [Read more...]
Oil Sheen Spotted Near Baltic Ace Shipwreck
During a regular patrol overflight this week, the Dutch Coast Guard spotted an oil sheen in the vicinity of the sunken Baltic Ace car carrier. Monitoring of the Baltic Ace was immediately intensified with extra Coast Guard patrols and the research vessel Zirfaea, of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastucture and Environment, is at the scene to take samples. The oil is too thin to … [Read more...]
Missing Crew Member of Baltic Ace Found, Salvage Operations Suspended
Dutch police have identified a body found on 19 December, 20 nautical miles west of IJmuiden, as that of the 31 year-old Polish first mate of the Baltic Ace, a RoRo that sank within minutes 5 December 2012 after colliding with container vessel Corvus J. The body was found by a fisherman and then subsequently transferred to port by a rescue boat and handed over to the police … [Read more...]
Svitzer Preparing to Remove Oil from Baltic Ace
The Dutch government's hydrographic and oil spill response vessel, M/V Arca, has left the scene of the Baltic Ace and has been replaced with the hydrographic research vessel Zirfaea, which is also government owned. For now the Zirfaea will stay in the area to guide traffic around the vessel. Buoys still mark the wreckage, which rests 6 meters below the surface in a high traffic … [Read more...]