NYK Delphinus contacted Coast Guard Sector San Francisco to report engine room hearth. [USCG photograph]
A 4,888 TEU NYK Line containership was beneath tow Sunday after a Unified Command consisting of the Coast Guard, California and Resolve Marine responded following a report of an engineroom hearth.
The ship, the 2007-built, Liberian-flagged NYK Delphinus, was roughly 50 miles west of Monterey, Calif., when it contacted Coast Guard Sector San Francisco watchstanders at 4:54 a.m., May 14, reporting the fireplace.
Watchstanders directed the launch of the Coast Guard Cutter Sockeye crew to evaluate the scenario together with two Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews. The aircrew arrived on scene at 9:26 a.m., Friday, and transferred a dewatering pump to the Delphinus crew.
A Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento C-27 Spartan crew supplied surveillance of the vessel. Resolve Marine contracted 5 tugboats to help.
By Saturday morning, the crew reported the engine room had seen a gradual decline in temperature. Smoke was not seen and the crew reported the fireplace as contained.
Four of the tugboats contracted by Resolve Marine, the tugs Jamie Ann, Sarah Avrick, Delta Deanna and Delta Lindsay arrived on scene and sprayed water on the Delphinus‘s hull to supply further cooling measures.
The tugboat Delta Deanna started actively towing the Delphinus in a northerly course at 10:55 a.m., Saturday. At 2:55 p.m., the ships met the fifth tugboat contracted by Resolve, Scorpius, to switch two further personnel to the Delphinus to survey the injury.
By Sunday, the Delta Deanna and the tugboats Sarah Avrick, Delta Lindsay, and Jamie Ann had been persevering with to transit the Delphinus to an offshore location west of Point Reyes.
Upon arrival, further hearth and salvage groups are planning to embark on the Delphinus to conduct structural integrity inspections and look at injury to the engine room. Once the inspection is accomplished, the Delphinus is scheduled to switch to Oakland Terminal Berth 22.
There are not any reported accidents and all 24 crew are reported secure and accounted for.
There are not any reported indicators of air pollution.
