Sea-Lady

The "Sea Lady" was refloated on Feb 16 and taken to a berth in the port of Skikda for offloading the cargo of 42000 tons corn. Excessive speed of the ship was said to be the cause of the grounding, and as it it tended to veer to starboard, it diverted to low draft docks instead of going directly to its berth no 13. The first towing operation that was conducted in the night of Feb 15 failed because of the low tide. The next attept was undertaken by six tugs of 2500 and 6500 hp in the morning of Feb 17, requiring a list of four degrees to allow the ship to slip off the shallow and get to the wharf. French report with photo: http://www.elwatan.com/regions/est/skikda/nos-marins-ont-accompli-une-prouesse-18-02-2017-339459_128.php

The "Sea Lady", having arrived in Skikda, having come from Las Palmas with a cargo of 43.700 tonnes of maize, struck the bottom of the basin on Feb 14, 2017, at about 10 p.m. and failed to reach its berth at the second port basin to unload its cargo. The bulkcarrier remained stuck in the port basin of Skikda, causing some disruption in port traffic and blocking the eastern part of the port. The draft of the second basin of the port is 9.80 m, while the ship had a draft of 10.90 m. The accident was caused by human error. Early attempts to clear the bottom have been made during the night, but were stopped awaiting more information. In the morning of Feb 15. a survey of the bottom was made by divers. Around 4 p.m. five tugs from the Skikda port company started attempts to pull the ship off. The "Sea Lady" already had trouble on Feb 13 when it was towed to the quay Château-Vert, where it had difficulties to approach its berth. She was then allowed to return to the anchorage. Finally, she tried to enter the port of Skikda in the evening, with the result now known. Spanish report with photo: http://www.elwatan.com/actualite/skikda-un-navire-s-echoue-accidentellement-au-port-16-02-2017-339348_109.php

On October 3, 2011, FreeSeas, a transporter of dry-bulk cargoes through the ownership and operation of a fleet of Handysize and Handymax vessels, entered into an agreement to sell the M/V Free Lady, a 2003-built, 50,246 dwt Handymax dry bulk carrier, for a sale price of approximately $21.9 million.The M/V Free Lady is expected to be delivered to her new owners later in November 2011. In application of the sale proceeds from the sale of the M/V Free Lady, the Company has agreed with Credit Suisse​, its largest lender, subject to customary documentation, to reduce the next five loan repayment installments from a total amount of $10.0 million to a total amount of $2.8 million starting from the third quarter of 2011. Source: FreeSeas