Korean Container Ship Loses Complete Power; Drifts For 2 Days In The Pacific
While sailing to South Korea from Portland, the SM Busan on Christmas Eve lost power and was drifting constantly for two days before the tug boats escorted it to Constance Bank. It was later moved to Ogden Point when strong winds died.
Crew members on the Korean container vessel started draining oil from the massive vessel on Monday so critical mechanical repairs may get underway, informed a Greater Victoria Harbour Authority spokesman. The 304-metre-long SM Busan, loaded with containers, is docked at Ogden Point from Sunday after it encountered mechanical issues while sailing in the Pacific.
The SM Busan has currently been tied to Pier B at Ogden Point’s mooring dolphin extension. It is the first one to deploy the new infrastructure for cruise vessels in 2020. Minimum of two semi-truck oil tankers had been on the pier along with the vessel on Monday to carry the offloaded oil.
The harbor authority has informed that the ship’s crew members were carrying out emergency repairs and safety and environmental guidelines were maintained as fuels were getting offloaded.
The authority added that the ship could be in port for a month. The number of members still on board is still unknown.
The SM Busan, constructed in 2007 and sailing South Korea’s flag, departed from Long Beach, California, on 14 December, per vesseltracker.com. It then travelled to Portland. It faced fuel issues and was not optimally operating or running at a full speed.
Transport Canada recommends vessels facing issues be escorted by tug for safe and secure arrival. The vessel gradually headed for Victoria at 3.9 knots on Saturday. It was constructed by Hyundai and the owner is Hanjin Shipping of South Korea, per reports from Baltic Shipping.
Reference: vancouversun.com
