‘Kew Bridge’

14th September 2006 – 9th October 2006

On 14 September 2006 LPG carrier ‘Kew Bridge’, loaded with 8000 tonnes of liquified butane, ran aground at Ratnagiri, India. The owners contracted SMIT Salvage together with co-salvors SvitzerWijsmuller Salvage  for salvage services under a LOF2000 contract.

The main concern was to reduce all safety risks on board, namely a breakdown of the cooling systems causing the temperature of the cargo to rise and this was a danger to the vessel and crew. In order to reduce this risk of volumetric expansion a minimum of 500 tonnes of cargo had to be discharged immediately. In order for a safe refloating operation a total amount of 2500 tonnes of liquified butane had to be discharged from the ’Kew Bridge’. Additional lightering tonnage was chartered in and specialist equipment/ hoses were flown in to start the Ship-to-Ship transfer operations.

A specialist dredger (jet pontoon) from India was chartered to undertake dredging operations in the vicinity of the casualty to make a channel to exit the bay. A small team of tugs was connected to the ‘Kew Bridge’ to prevent her from moving any closer towards the shore and to pull her towards the sea.

As the combination of dredging- and Ship-to-Ship operations took effect the vessel was slowly pulled towards the sea. The ‘Kew Bridge’ was safely refloated during the high tide of the 9 October and was towed to the outer anchorage.