PAMPERO

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Traffic on the Rhône was resumed

On March 27 a crane was working at the downstream gate of the gates in Sablons with cofferdams used for barring off the working site on the Rhône On March 29 the ship traffic on the river was resumed and the lock. The dented 'Pampero' was degassed and moored at pilings underneath the lock at the river shore.

40 people to be evacuated

During the recent days the stabilization of the 'Pampero' had been continued y plugging two cracks of 40 cm length and 1 cm width which made it possible “to considerably reduce the leaks. The quantities of dispersed cargo were minimal. Any danger to human health was excluded at this time because samples were taken at regular intervals every eight hours. On March 4, a new phase of operations has started with the lightering of the contennts of the eight tanks of 350 m3 each onto the barge 'Samoen' (MMSI:227088140) in an STS transfer. side by side. Regarding the first six tanks, the unloading took place in a common way. But as the wheelhouse had collapsed on the deck damaging the tanks 7 and 8 thgis makes their unloading more delicate. After raising the wheelhouse, lightering of the two damaged tanks requires extending the safety perimeter from 400 m to 550 meters, Around 40 inhabitants and around ten employees from a sawmill will have to be evacuated. Isère and part of the Ardèche, in the town of Peyraud were affected by this perimeter. The evacuation took place from March 8 until March 10. The unloading operation should take around 240 hours, until March 14. Then the removal of the barge must be carried out by its owner, and the lock gate must be repaired by the CNR. Meanwhile, the river traffic remained interrupted for an indefinite period. French report with photo: https://www.lessor38.fr/peniche-accidentee-a-sablons-evacuation-des-riverains-26550.html

Unloading of tanks has commenced

On March 4, the unloading of the tanks no. 1 to 6 of the 'Pampero' onto the 'Samoen' was due start and should continue without interruption in the days to come. The security perimeter around the barge which measured 400 meters was being maintainedb by the state services. The ship was transporting 2,200 tonnes of gaseous vinyl chloride, a flammable and toxic product when the accident occurred on Feb 18. The Isère prefecture reaffirmed that the leakage sealing operations carried out in the days following the accident made it possible to significantly reduce the vinyl chloride concentrations at the measurement sites near the ship and that air quality has not been affected. However, security operations remained complex. Navigation remained impossible on the Rhône between the ports of Valence and Salaise-Sablons for an indefinite period.