It seems salvors’ plan to sink the OS 35’s stern in order to stablize the wreck ahead of inclement weather has worked.
I say “seems” because Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory, remains in a 10-day National Mourning period following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II during which only minimal government services, including press updates, have been made available. With her funeral taking place Monday, the mourning period is set to expire at end of day—so we should learning more soon.
One exception was last week’s announcement from the Gibraltar Port Authority that government authorities had approved salvor Resolve Marine’s heavy weather plan for the OS 35 shipwreck off the east coast of the city.
The plan involed a controlled sinking of the wreck’s stern, recommended as the best course of action for minimizing environmental impacts during a period of heavy weather and stronger swell expected in Gibraltar Sunday and Monday.
OS 25 wreck pictured September 19, 2022. Photo courtesy MateoGib
As we reported last week, OS 35 is currently broken into two sections; the 73-meter-long forward section which is firmly planted on the seabed and an aft section, measuring 105 meters, which had remained afloat and connected by twisted metal. The fear was that the swell could cause stern section to break loose, causing even greater environmental damage and a more challenging situation for the salvage operation moving forward.
While the Gibraltar Port Authority’s latest release on Friday said some tar balls had been observed in the vicinity of Catalan Bay, where the wreck sits, clean-up crews were onsite to collect them and clean up the area. A previously reported, all recoverable oil has already been removed from the vessel, leaving only residual amounts in the tanks.
Some photos of the OS 35 taken Monday, September 19, and shared with gCaptain shows the wreck with its stern sunk. The photo below shows OS 35 on September 19 with its stern resting on the seabed:
OS 25 wreck pictured September 19, 2022. Photo courtesy MateoGib
Below is the OS 35 pictured on August 31, with its stern still afloat and much calmer conditions:
OS 35 pictured August 31, 2022. Photo courtesy Gibraltar Port Authority
With waves forecasted to decrease over the coming days, it seems the stern section has survived the storm, but we’ll update once we receive official confirmation.
Background
The Tuvalu-flaggedOS 35was outbound from Gibraltar Port when itcollidedwith the unladen LNG carrierAdam LNGin the Bay of Gibraltar on Monday, August 29th. TheOS 35was then anchored off Catalan Bay, on the opposite side of Iberian Peninsula, where it partially sank and later began breaking up, resulting in the release of an undisclosed amount of oil.
Prior to breaking in two, survey inspections confirmed a gash in the OS 35’s amidships measuring approximately 10 meters by 4 meters on the starboard side.
TheAdam LNG, which is registered in the Marshall Islands, sustained only minimal damage. No injuries were reported on either vessel.
