The Navy rescued 18 crew members from a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier, which ran aground at Little Basses, which is about 5.5 nautical miles (10km), near Yala, off the Southeastern coast on Saturday.
Navy spokesman Captain Indika De Silva told the Daily News that they were able to rescue all 18 crew members safely without any problems from the carrier named ‘MV Eurosun’ en route to Trincomalee, from Abu Dhabi Port of UAE carrying clinker.
Captain Silva said the bulk carrier sailing under Liberian flag has a shipment of over 33,000 MT of clinker and a storage of about 720 MT of bunker.
Clinker is limestone fired in a kiln which is used to grind into cement with other materials such as gypsum or fly ash.
Captain Silva further explained that the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC Colombo) recorded a distress call and accordingly, a Sri Lanka Navy ship and a craft were rushed to the scene from the ports of Hambantota and Galle on Saturday on January.23.
The Sri Lanka Navy ship and craft boarded which was rushed to the spot with Navy divers have returned from the MV Eurosun had reported no damage to the bulk carrier’s hull and there was no sign of water leakage into the ship or oil into the ocean.
The spokesman said that one third of the ship is underwater and the carrier is resting the reef. “ Arrangements are being made to off-load the consignment from the carrier,” he concluded
Following a request by the Navy, an aircraft of Sri Lanka Air Force did aerial reconnaissance in the area to capture aerial footage of the movement of the carrier.
A special diving operation was carried out by the Navy yesterday to investigate and rescue the bulk carrier. The Navy Media Spokesman stated that a team of divers and a ship were deployed for the said operation. He said the operation commenced at 7.30 a.m. yesterday (24).
He also said that the divers would investigate the nature in which the carrier is trapped in order to draw a plan to rescue it. “The team will also look into the marine weather ahead of commencing the rescue operation. It is difficult to predict how long it would take to complete the investigation in order to move to the next phase.” he added.
A bulk carrier named ‘MV Eurosun’ was en route to Trincomalee, Sri Lanka from Abu Dhabi Port of UAE. On receipt of distress call, a Navy ship and craft were rushed to the scene from the ports of Hambantota and Galle. However, no damage to the bulk carrier’s hull has been reported and there is no sign of water leaking into the ship or oil into the ocean.
The Sri Lanka Air Force conducted an aerial reconnaissance in the area to capture aerial footage, following a request by the Navy. MRCC Colombo located at Navy Headquarters is carefully observing the developments into the incident.