Tugs line up to swing ship around

By KATHERINE HOBY and NZPA

Salvors hope to manoeuvre the stranded log carrier Jody F. Millennium today so it is bow-first to the ocean.

If the ship shows signs of moving easily enough when that is done, an attempt might be made to pull it free.

Otherwise a more full-on attempt to free the vessel will be made tomorrow.

The Maritime Safety Authority says that even even if the ship is refloated it will not leave Poverty Bay until divers have assessed damage.

Authority spokeswoman Helen Mojel said the Jody F. Millennium had been declared a hazard and an order had been placed on the ship stopping it being moved out of Poverty Bay.

"If they get it refloated they have to take it somewhere in the bay and put divers down and have it surveyed to see what needs to be done."

Speculation has been mounting that the crippled log carrier, which is too big to be repaired in this country, may be too badly damaged to be towed to an overseas port. Maritime authorities confirm the ship's steering gear has been written off.

Ms Mojel said the authority needed to be confident that the ship was safe enough to be towed around the New Zealand coast without it breaking up, sinking and causing more environmental problems.

Obviously some repairs had to be done in New Zealand but not in dry dock because even the Devonport dock could not accommodate the 156m vessel.

If the ship is refloated it will probably have to be towed to Australia or Singapore.

The Jody F. Millennium ran aground on February 6 in 5m swells off Waikanae Beach in Gisborne and began leaking fuel oil into the sea from a ruptured tank.

Attempts to shift the vessel have failed but tugs and barges from as far away as Nelson and Melbourne have arrived in Gisborne to help with the salvage.

Additional ground tackle - anchors, chains and wires - has also been put in place to assist the salvage.

The anchors have been put out at sea and the wires attached to winches on the ship. They should help the ship to move into deeper water.

That equipment, used in conjunction with tugs, earlier helped to turn the Jody F. Millennium into the sea, rather than taking the swell broadside on.

While most of the oil has been removed, about 90 tonnes has yet to be pumped off the ship.

Salvors are also looking at removing a further 2000 tonnes of cargo, much of it logs, before tomorrow.

However, because of safety issues, helicopters are unable to remove cargo while salvors are on deck.

The Maritime Safety Authority is discussing the future of the ship with its lawyers under the provisions of New Zealand maritime law.

But the next step is to refloat it out into Poverty Bay.

"While the people in Gisborne might not like it, it is the best place for it to be," Ms Mojel said.

The clean-up and salvage have so far cost about $2 million.

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