Smit starts work on Yemen FSO SAFER

Smit Salvage reports “another busy quarter with high level salvage and wreck removal projects around the world.”

Work has been progressing on several projects related to the offshore industry; both in traditional oil and gas, as well as the newer offshore wind industry.

One of these cases concerns a major wreck removal operation of an offshore structure in Asia which has recently commenced and is “progressing well”. In other cases during the quarter, Smit assisted with stabilising and transporting an aged FPSO, as well as supporting an offshore wind project in which wrongly installed structures have been inspected underwater and prepared for removal.

Another major ongoing project of Smit is the FSO SAFER in Yemen (above), which has been reported widely in the international media. Over the past period, good progress has been made by the Smit team to prepare the FSO SAFER for the oil transfer phase of the operation. Recent work has focused on inspecting and reinstating equipment on the vessel.

It includes various winches required for the mooring operation as well as the stripping pumps to facilitate the transfer of the last remains of the cargo to the replacement oil tanker alongside the FSO. And the underwater inspection of the hull by a team of professional divers has been completed.

In addition to the Boskalis-owned multipurpose vessel NDEAVOR which is acting as the main working platform, two tugboats owned by Smit Lamnalco have also arrived on site. These tugboats will assist with the berthing of the replacement tanker when she arrives.

Oil booms will be installed as a precautionary measure during the ship-to-ship transfer of the oil. Besides the operational challenges on board the vessel, significant efforts are being made to cooperate well with the stringent requirements of the client, the United Nations, local communities and various sub-contractors. The project is expected to be completed by early Q3 2023.

Elsewhere Smit was involved in the traditional field of providing emergency response to vessels in peril. At the end of April a general cargo vessel ran aground in the Northwest of Iceland. The vessel was laden with a cargo of salt and remained aground for several days. Smit Salvage was appointed by the vessel interests and collaborated with the local

Coast Guard and local services suppliers. With joint efforts, and allowing for the weather and swell, the heavily damaged vessel was refloated. She was then stabilised with partial cargo and bunker offloading and finally prepared and towed to a more sheltered location for redelivery to the owners.

Also in April, a bulk carrier ran aground in the Southeast of Philippines (below). The vessel was laden with a cargo of nickel ore. Smit Salvage worked with their partners Malayan Towage & Salvage for this project and commenced a complex and intensive lightering and refloating operation.

Smit said the remoteness of the location and severity of the grounding made it a “challenging operation”. The vessel was safely refloated and Smit and its local partner’s divers carried out emergency repairs to the bottom of the vessel.