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SYDNEY - A 40,000-tonne coal ship stranded on an Australian beach after fierce storms two weeks ago may be broken up for scrap rather than refloated, a newspaper report said on Saturday.
The head of a salvage team working on the ship told the Daily Telegraph that the cost of refloating the ship and fixing its damaged hull was so close to the vessel's A$41 million ($46.05 million) replacement price that it was not financially viable.
The ship, the Pasha Bulker, was swept on to a beach near the huge coal port of Newcastle north of Sydney on June 8 in a fierce storm. Though empty of cargo, the ship was carrying some 700 tonnes of fuel, raising concerns of environmental damage.
Those fears have abated after the ship withstood subsequent storms, and calm weather returned to the area. Its crew were all rescued during the initial storm.
The salvage team leader said breaking up the ship would take more than six months. The ship's 11,000 to 12,000 tonnes of steel, which would fetch several million dollars, could then be melted down and recycled, he said.
- REUTERS
