A specialised tug boat that will assist in re-floating a vessel stuck in the Indian Ocean off Kilifi is expected to arrive on Sunday even as a team of marine specialists try to salvage the ship this Saturday.
Captain William Ruto, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Harbour Master who is also in charge of marine operations, yesterday said the 14,400 horsepower boat had already left Salala port in Oman and would be used in the event the operation is not successful.
Mt Theresa Arctic was sailing from Port Keelang in Malaysia to Mombasa when she ran aground off Kilifi on June 20 some 55 nautical miles northeast of Mombasa. There were no reports of injuries or water pollution in the area following the incident.
Running aground is a term used to describe a ship veering off course and getting stuck in shallow waters.
The vessel is loaded with 46,000 tons of vegetable oil and some of it will be transferred to another ship, Mt Theresa Dumai, currently anchored next to her.
Efforts to re-float the vessel using two Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) tug boats failed due to bad weather and rough seas.
“We hope to commence the exercise over the weekend when the sea is expected to be calm. But if this does not succeed we will use the more powerful tag boat to hold the vessel to position as more than 15,000 tonnes of cooking oil is transferred to Mt Theresa Dumai,” said Mr Ruto. KPA tug boats have 4,000 horsepower.
In a statement last week, KPA head of corporate affairs Bernard Osero said the authority had sourced the tug from Salalah port.
According to Andrew Mwangura, a marine consultant, the salvage operations were not successful even with assistance from a Mozambican tanker.
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