The Baltic Ace car carrier.
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 the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
For the salvage, the Dutch Government hired maritime services provider Royal Boskalis Westminster and its partner Mammoet Salvage, who were given the deadline of December 31, 2015 for the complete removal of the wreck and all cars.
The project began in 2014 with the original plan to cut the ship into six large sections and lift them individually to the surface, but inspections revealed that the structures were too weak, forcing salvors to come up with an alternative method. Below is a detailed look at how they ended up pulling it off from SMIT Salvage:
Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.
Join the 108,925 members that receive our newsletter.
Have a news tip? Let us know.
The 59-year-old Master of a German-owned containership has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter after a collision between a US military-chartered tanker off England’s East Yorkshire coast that...
Two ships burned off the English coast on Tuesday, a day after an unexplained collision that left a tanker carrying U.S. army jet fuel with a gaping hole in its side, and a container ship adrift and likely to sink.
Greenland residents vote on Tuesday in a closely watched election brought into the international spotlight by a pledge from U.S. President Donald Trump to take control of the mineral-rich island.
Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 108,925 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up
Join The Club
