Halland

In the foremidday of Jan 17 the "Halland" started moving on the grounding site. The plan to lighter the cargo onto other ships first and have the salvage done after that, was aborted in regard of possible propeller damage. The ship was then able back off with its own machine after emptying the ballast tanks. The ship's rudder works again. The "Halland" dropped anchor near the grounding site. Divers were to investigate the hull during the day. There were 300 tons fuel in the bunker tanks. Swedish report with photos: http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=86&artikel=6863792

Coming from Riga, where she had sailed on Jan 15, 2018, the "Halland" ran aground in the Kalmar Strait off Mönsterås in Småland on Jan 16 at 5 p.m. with about six knots. Technical errors were believed to be behind the grounding. No oil has leaked, and the ship was currently rated as intact. The Swedish Coast Guard's sent the "KBV 033" the crew of which carried out a sobriety control with a negative result. The ship was loaded with about 5,000 tonnes of pulpwood and had approximately 320,000 liters of diesel fuel on board. The situation was monitored by the Coastguard continuously while the owner was responsible to develop a salvage plan which must be approved by the Coast Guard and the Transport Agency. The Transport Agency's inspectors were expected on site in the morning of Jan 17. The ship's bottom was to be investigated by a diver of the Coast Guard. Winds on scene were SE with speeds of about 15 m/s which were expected to decline during the night and in the morning. Swedish report with photo: https://www.kustbevakningen.se/hallbar-havsmiljo/nyhetsarkiv/fartyg-pa-grund-utanfor-monsteras/

sold at auction abt 4.9 US$m to undisclosed buyer