The stranded Safmarine Agulhas moved a few metres in a salvage attempt at high tide on Thursday afternoon, said the National Ports Authority (NPA).
”We have had limited success,” said NPA East London spokesperson Terry Taylor.
Two tugs attached to the bow and stern of the 16 800-tonne container ship would keep a steady line overnight. This meant there would still be a pull on the Agulhas and it was possible the vessel could move off the sandbank overnight, said Taylor.
He emphasised that circumstances were changing all the time.
The Agulhas lost power after leaving harbour on Monday night and became grounded on sand off the harbour breakwater.
The water had been calm, with hardly any of the swell salvors had been hoping for to help the vessel move on Thursday afternoon. ”Unfortunately that didn’t happen,” said Taylor.
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) tug Impunzi was attached to the bow of the Agulhas and the Samsa tug Smit Amandla to the stern. It was decided a third tug would be more of a hindrance than a help.
They would ”give a full effort again” at high tide at 6.25am on Friday. ”We’ll wait and see what progresses overnight. The next high tide is a good opportunity.”
Taylor said there was no pollution so far and the vessel remained structurally sound.
The Agulhas was carrying 662 metric tonnes of fuel oil, 88 metric tonnes of marine diesel and 37 metric tonnes of lube oils.
The operation was ”quite something” to see, he said, explaining that any salvage attempt was delicate. ”There are so many things that can go wrong, and [our] planning changes constantly.”
Everyone in the team involved in the attempt to refloat the Agulhas was confident it would work, he said.
However, if they did not succeed by Friday, they would go to the next plan, which was to start with the offloading of the cargo on board.
Owned by FA Vinnen and Company of Germany, the Agulhas is on charter to Safmarine Container Lines and is deployed between Europe and South Africa. There are 469 loaded and 112 empty containers on board. — Sapa