SEYCHELLES PATRIOT

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Seychelles Patriot refloated nine days after running aground in Brazil

Seychelles Patriot, a Seychelles-owned fuel tanker, was re-floated this morning, nine days after it ran aground during a routine journey up the Amazon River in Brazil. The successful re-floating of the Seychelles Patriot was confirmed by the Seychelles Petroleum Company, Seypec, in a press statement issued this afternoon. “The re-floating exercise began on the arrival of appropriate powered tug boats and was completed three hours later when the vessel was maneuvered off the mud banks on which it had been grounded,” reads the statement.There had been at least two previous failed attempts to re-float the tanker during the week. “As per the norms in a situation such as this, the vessel is now on the way to Port Santarem anchorage for inspections by the Classification Society, and is then expected to continue to its planned destination, Manaus City, Brazil,” concludes the Seypec statement. According to the government-owned parastatal company, no spillages of product or any injury to crew members have been recorded The tanker which had been chartered by Brazilian Energy Company, Petrobas, is said to have been transporting gasoil According to Seypec the tanker had ran aground on October 8, while sailing on its approved navigational route in the presence of the Brazilian Pilots onboard. There were 18 crew members onboard the tanker at the time including 8 Seychellois nationals.

Grounded MT Seychelles Patriot Still Stuck

MT Seychelles Patriot has clocked up over a week aground in the middle of the Amazon River where it got stuck in shifting sand and mud banks on October 8th. Several attempts have been made to free the product tanker, but none of them was successful. The ship was en route for Manaus City to unload a cargo from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and had two Brazilian pilots on-board, as required by the Brazilian Maritime Authority. “The vessel remains in an uncritical state with respect to its structural integrity as assessed and confirmed by the classification society. No spillages of product or any injury to crew members have been recorded. It is to be noted that the vessel is built to high double hull structural specifications,” the vessel’s owner Seychelles Petroleum said in a release Tuesday. According to the owner, an initial attempt to re-float the vessel under her own steam was undertaken on the same day, however the attempt was unsuccessful. Coordinated by German Tanker Shipping GmbH, the salvage operation was put through its first phase by contacting a salvage specialist company, SMIT of Netherlands, who flew two salvage experts from Netherlands on Sunday the 12th of October. A salvage plan was developed by Monday morning, approved by the classification society, the Santarem Port Authority and the insurance company. The salvage experts arrived onboard the Seychelles Patriot on Monday morning. Also present were two representatives from the insurance company and representatives from the Classification society, Germanischer Lloyd, who hold responsibility for safeguarding the structural integrity of the vessel. The second re-floating was attempted on the 13th October 2014 at 18:00 hrs LT, (01:00 hours Seychelles time) following the arrival of the two tug boats by mid-day, all with the approval of the Brazilian Maritime Authority. “Unfortunately, the exercise was later stopped by the on-site team as the two tugs were found to be too small in size, and developed mechanical failures which caused reduced bollard pull. At this stage an extra tug is being chartered from the neighboring port of Santarem to aid the salvage operation, while the mechanical failures are being repaired on the two tugs previously chartered. Another re-floating attempt is planned for this evening,” the company added.

Third refloating attempt planned with additional tug

A salvage operation was underway to refloat the "Seychelles Patriot", which ran aground during a routine journey up the Amazon River on Oct 8 enroute to Manaus City for a cargo discharge from Rio De Janeiro. On her 8th voyage up the Amazon river, the "Seychelles Patriot" ran aground on shifting sand and mud banks in the middle of the Amazon River, well within her planned navigational routing and in the presence of two Brazilian pilots on-board, as required by the Brazilian Maritime Authority. The tanker was transporting a cargo of gasoil. Seypec, the government-owned parastatal company was notified immediately about the grounding of Seychelles Patriot along with other relevant stakeholders which include the insurance company, classification society, the charterer; Petrobras, the Santarem Port Authority who holds jurisdiction in the area, as well as the Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority (SMSA). There have been several attempts to re-float the tanker but so far all have been unsuccessful. The first attempt to re-float the vessel under her own power was undertaken on Oct 8, but after the attempt failed, salvage experts from the Netherlands were flown in to formulate another strategy. A salvage plan was developed by Oct 13 morning, approved by the classification society, the Santarem Port Authority and the insurance company. The second re-floating attempt was carried out on Oct 13 at 6 p.m. LT, following the arrival of the two tug boats by midday, all with the approval of the Brazilian Maritime Authority. It had to be stopped “as the two tugs were found to be too small in size, and developed mechanical failures which caused reduced bollard pull. A third re-floating exercise was planned for later in the evening, after the damaged tugs have been repaired and an extra tug chartered from the neighbouring port of Santarem arrives to aid the salvage operation. Report: http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/1562/Third+attempt+to+re-float+Seychelles'+tanker+planned+this+evening+-+Seychelles+Patriot+ran+aground+in+Brazil