It has been reported overnight that the stricken cargo vessel, the Hoegh Osaka, has self floated itself from the sand at Bramble Bar.
Tugs are now towing the vessel to a holding position in Southampton water. At this stage, there has been minimal disruption to vessel movements in the area.
The UK Maritime and Coastguard agency previously advised that the salvage company would not attempt to re-float the vessel as it was thought to have taken on a lot more water than previously thought. Clearly the Hoegh Osaka thought that it didn’t need anyone’s help.
The fate of this vessel and it’s millions of dollars worth of cargo remains unknown.
This incident bears a resemblance to the COUGAR ACE roll on / roll off loss of instability back in 2006. This vessel developed a list of 60 degrees when off the Aleutian Islands. The Cougar Ace was en route from Japan to Vancouver – the listing occurred during an exchange of ballast water. 4703 Mazdas were on board the ship. Despite rather minimal damage being incurred during the emergency (which lasted for a month) Mazda decided to scrap all the vehicles involved. Read about the cowboys of the deep sea that saved that wounded boat here. It’s such an interesting read.
Let’s hope that the Hoegh Osaka cargo has a brighter future.
Image credit: Casey Sheargold
