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Will MV Wisdom ever budge?

SMIT on Friday re-launched their salvage operation to move the ship. Several metre-long pumps were deployed to apply air pressure at the ship’s bottom.

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About four to five degrees; that’s how much the stuck cargo ship MV Wisdom moved on Friday. It was the Singapore-based salvage experts SMIT’s third attempt to tow the ship stranded at Juhu beach.

The company on Friday re-launched their salvage operation to move the ship. Several metre-long pumps were deployed to apply air pressure at the ship’s bottom.

A high tide of 2.9m was recorded on Friday, which prompted the company to initiate the salvage operation. “The air pumps were applied to a corner of the grounded vessel in the upward direction. This was done to tilt the ship,” said an official involved in the operation. Much to the delight of the salvers, the 175-metre-long ship, which weighs 9,000 tonnes, responded to it.

A higher tide of around 3.5m is expected at the weekend, and the coming days will be very crucial. The company is planning to deploy around seven tugs to pull the ship. Ropes will be attached to the ship’s cable and the tugs will pull.

The salvage operation was started on June 17. When the ship failed to respond, the company decided to take a haul till next high tide.

The ship has been stalled at the beach since June 12. With a spate of high tides and sea current, the hulk of the ship has dug deep, eroding the sand beneath it. Environmentalists are concerned if the ship will be grounded at the beach forever.

Rituraj Joshi, trustee, Nisarg Trust, said, “Authorities should do everything in their power. The ship will prove to be an environment disaster. We don’t know what kind of waste products is stored in the vessel. The corrosion can further ruin the sea bed and marine life.

This will lead to the steady degradation of Juhu beach.”
The Singapore-flagged ship was being tugged from Colombo to the Alang ship-breaking yard. When it reached the Bombay Dockyard, the messenger rope which was carrying the cable of the other vessel pulling MV Wisdom snapped.

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