The Hoegh Osaka vehicle carrier was deliberately grounded on Bramble Bank, between Southampton and the Isle of Wight on Saturday night to prevent it from being capsized. The 51,000 tonne ship has over 1,200 luxury cars on board including Jaguars, Land Rover, 65 BMW Minis, 105 JCB diggers and a single Rolls-Royce Wraith – worth in excess of £260,000.
Salvage experts have boarded the ship that now sits at a dangerous angle of 52 degrees in an attempt to stabilise it before 50mph are expected tomorrow. Efforts have already been made to anchor the ship to prevent it from sinking further down the sandbank during the expected storm.
Head of the casualty response team, Alex Davis has said “Time is the enemy here; the longer the vessel is aground, the more likely she is to become further damaged and to deteriorate. They will be looking to move as fast as is technically possible."
The Hoegh Osaka had only begun its journey before it ran into trouble. The Coastguard helicopter and RNLI lifeboats then came to their rescue of the 25 members. Two crew members suffered minor injuries and were taken immediately to the hospital. Chief executive of Hoegh Autoliners has assured the public that none of the 500 tonnes of fuel on board has leaked.
Several options of righting the ship are being considered including large metal floats similar to those that were used on the Costa Concordia cruise liner. In any case, the salvage operation could take several months due to the weather and the cargo on board.
