Grounding, Fishing Vessel

Palau, Micronesia | Palau

A Japanese fishing vessel ran aground along an atoll located east of Palau. The vessel was loaded with about 100 tons of fish bait in the number one and two cargo holds. The vessel was aground over the full length of the vessel, with a greater ground reaction forward of the midship area. Resolve Marine Japanese partners Fukada Salvage was informed of the incident, who then contacted Resolve Marine for assistance. A team was mobilized from Singapore and Indonesia along with personnel from Fukada Salvage. A thorough inspection was carried out on the grounding area and a damage stability model was created in order to determine the ground reaction and then evaluate a salvage plan.  

A salvage plan was formulated and presented to the local authorities including the harbor master. Due to the location of the grounding, and the sensitivity of the reefs in and around the vessel, several governmental departments including transportation, environment and representatives from the Japanese Embassy also attended the presentation and were satisfied with the proposed methodology.  

A tug was mobilized from Tarakan, Indonesia and in accordance with the required water depth for a safe refloat, a pre-determined date was set and the fishing vessel was successfully refloated and towed away from the reef without any further damage to the vessel. No oil spill occurred during the refloat and the surrounding reefs remained undamaged.