
Damaged Bulk Carrier Reaches Washington Pier
The severely broken MV Sparna has reached a secure berth at a North Kalama, Washington pier on Wednesday afternoon two days after the majority provider ran aground on the Columbia River.
The Sparna, a 623-foot Panamanian-flagged grain bulk provider, began the transit from its anchorage close to river marker 36 with the help of two tugs and a Coast Guard security zone escort at about 12:30 p.m., and moored on the Kalama North pier at about 6 p.m.
As a precaution, the Sparna was adopted by a National Response Corporation vessel with air pollution response capabilities. The vessel’s gas tanks remained intact all through the incident and transit.
“The main objectives during the transit was to maintain the safety of the Sparna crew, maintain a safe navigational channel throughout the transit and respond as necessary to environmental concerns,” mentioned Cmdr. Jonathan Hellberg, incident commander. “The successful transit was a unified team effort, and we are very pleased with the outcome.”
A 100-yard security zone surrounding the broken vessel was put in place by the captain of the port all through the transit. After the secure transit upriver the captain of the port lifted the security zone and the Columbia River re-opened the river to all visitors.
The Sparna briefly ran aground at 12:16 Monday morning, absolutely loaded with grain in its cargo holds, and carrying 218,380 gallons of excessive sulfur gas and 39,380 gallons of marine diesel.
A harm evaluation confirmed a number of fractures within the hull, the most important being a 25-foot by 5-foot large fracture with a visual boulder lodged inside. The fractures brought about the ship to tackle water, making the ship record barely to port.
The reason for the incident continues to be underneath investigation.