How salving the listing and burning ro-ro Schieborg and saving its crew became a race against time .

ON Saturday January 8 the 21,005 gross tons Dutch-owned Schieborg was struck by a huge wave during a violent storm 50 miles east of Esbjerg.
The main impact was taken on the starboard quarter forward, resulting in damage to the upperworks.
The Schieborg took on an extreme list of up to 60 degrees and shortly afterwards members of the crew reported fire at the stern.

Wijsmuller Salvage obtained a Lloyd’s Form contract. An immediate response had already been launched, organised by Wijsmuller headquarters in Ijmuiden and Esvagt, another SvitzerWijsmuller Group company. The latter operates a fleet of offshore standby vessels. Wijsmuller and Esvagt had worked together on a number of salvage operations, including three in the past 12 months, and the emergency standby tugs Esvagt Omega and Esvagt Gamma headed for the scene to assist the Schieborg.

The vessel is one of three sisterships trading between Gothenburg and Zeebrugge, primarily transporting paper reels. The Schieborg’s cargo comprised trailers and 40ft containers on the weather deck together with some containerised chemicals. The vessel was also laden with around 6,000 tonnes of containerised paper products.

Wijsmuller Salvage managing director Daan Koornneef says a fast response was crucial. “While the roro still had power, the Schieborg had lost steering and was drifting at three knots towards the coast,” he recalls. “The weather was very bad and forecast to get worse. Our two tugs were around five hours from the casualty. “Meanwhile, our support team at Ijmuiden mobilised a salvage team and equipment to reinforce this first response. Our salvage and firefighting experts were soon on a plane to Esbjerg.

“The first challenge was to rescue the Schieborg’s 15 crew, Dutch officers and ratings from the Philippines and Cape Verde. The standby tugs arrived at around midnight to find the casualty abandoned. Danish Coastguard helicopters had reached the scene, despite the Force 10 winds, but could not take off the crew due to the conditions and the violent rolling of the vessel.

“At around 22.00 the master of the casualty had decided to use the boats. This must have been a difficult decision. The stern fire had spread rapidly, with flames reaching 20 m in height. “The lifeboats, the crew’s only immediate means of escape, were threatened as the fire began to creep forward.
A lifeboat was launched from a height of 20 m as the Schieborg rolled violently in the big seas. Four of the crew suffered minor injuries in the evacuation and were subsequently treated at Esbjerg hospital.” The Esvagt Omega’s fast rescue craft picked up the crew. The crane-deployed craft, manned by a complement of four, transferred all 15 to their tug.
Wijsmuller senior salvage master Bram Sperling and his team left Rotterdam Airport on board a chartered aircraft at 23.00 that Saturday.
At 02.00, in Esvagt’s Esbjerg offices, they heard that the roro’s entire crew had been rescued.

With this first objective achieved, Captain Sperling began to plan ahead.
“This operation began before the crew left the Schieborg, as we kept in contact through the casualty’s owners and our tugs at the scene,” he says.

“We knew this high-sided ro-ro would be very difficult to board in such hostile conditions. Time pressure was acute. Given the rate of drift, Schieborg would be aground in less than 12 hours unless a tow connection could be established.”

As the Esvagt Omega completed the rescue the second standby tug sought to connect with the Schieborg. The attempt was frustrated by appalling sea conditions. During the early hours of January 9 the assistance of a coastguard helicopter was requested to land a four-man team on the ro-ro.
The helicopter was on its way when news came that the Esvagt Gamma had succeeded in securing the casualty. A tow connection was made with the casualty just 10 miles off the coast. The aircraft returned to base.
Subsequently, however, more information placed a question over the tow connection and Capt Sperling concluded that a small team should board the Schieborg as soon as possible.

At around noon on Sunday two Wijsmuller salvage engineers and a gas expert boarded the coastguard helicopter and made for the casualty. At that point the Esvagt Gamma had been slow-towing the disabled ro-ro away from the coast at two knots for several hours.
When the helicopter arrived over the casualty it was apparent that the ro-ro was still burning fiercely.
Winching down to the main deck forward, the team immediately reinforced the tow connection and attempted to go aft but ran into problems.
It was impossible to move through the accommodation due to high carbon monoxide levels. At 15.50 the helicopter picked the team up and it landed back just after 16.30.
The boarding party did bring some encouraging news. Before leaving the vessel the Schieborg’s crew had activated the main deck sprinkler system. This deck extended under the accommodation block and the crew’s actions had succeeded in preventing the spread of fire into this area. The team also reported localised fires still visible on the weather deck.
With this in mind, arrangements continued to reinforce firefighting resources. Equipment was mobilised from Wijsmuller’s central salvage store at Ijmuiden. Items requested included a powerful, 1,200 cu m diesel-driven monitor. In addition, SvitzerWijsmuller’s firefighting tug Simson left Ijmuiden, joined the convoy and began firefighting and boundary cooling.

Capt Sperling welcomed the news that the weather was expected to ease during Monday. On Sunday he and his team had started to investigate options for a safe haven for the ro-ro. Entry into Esbjerg had been considered and Capt Sperling and his team met port authority officials at 17.30 on Sunday.
It became obvious, however, that Esbjerg, while offering the advantage of close proximity, might not be suitable. The concern was the port’s narrow entrance. The Schieborg’s rudder was reported stuck hard to starboard and the ro-ro was difficult to control under tow.
The casualty’s high sides had plenty of windage and Esbjerg’s narrow entrance channel is only 200 m wide, with the shallows posing unacceptable risks. The sea was also extremely rough, in the stormy weather.
The alternative was to head around the northern end of Denmark. The convoy turned north but the Esvagt Gamma soon reported that the Schieborg was virtually uncontrollable. The ro-ro’s erratic behaviour was endangering the tow connection. By 19.00 there was no choice but to turn south and head into wind.

Capt Sperling says: “There was plenty to think about at that stage. We could not remain in the open sea indefinitely. We needed another powerful tug as back-up and Ijmuiden mobilised Neftegas 57.
This station tug left Land’s End on Sunday night, with an estimated time of arrival of early evening Tuesday.
“Now our choice of safe haven was between the Helgoland Bight area and Eemshaven. The decision was taken at midnight. The casualty would be towed towards Eemshaven.”
During the small hours of Monday discussions were in progress with the German and Dutch authorities.
Capt Sperling favoured Eemshaven as it gave more room in the prevailing weather.
“We had excellent co-operation from the authorities ashore,” he says. “By Tuesday clearance from both German and Dutch authorities had been obtained. The casualty was cleared by the North Sea Directorate to proceed to Eemshaven Pilot Station.
“A first attempt at the channel entry was due to be made on January 12 but was postponed due to yet another deterioration in the weather.
“After a successful entry on January 14 we were instructed to proceed to a holding area just two miles off Eemshaven. A port authority inspection confirmed our reports on the ro-ro’s condition. The Schieborg was then cleared to remain at the holding location.

DAILY SHIPPING NEWSLETTER 2005 – 028 PSi-Daily Shipping News Page 11 01/30/05
“Having had considerable experience of safe havens, I was impressed by Eemshaven and the positive attitude of the authorities working with us.”
The fires had not been fully extinguished at the initial port entry stage and many, mainly involving paper reel containers, were still smouldering. The team of 11 firefighters and chemical specialists was still busy on board as final preparations were made for entry.
Weather conditions, however, remained difficult. The Simson’s towline parted in the vicious northwesterly and it proved impossible to reconnect.
Final preparations were completed by Wednesday. The salvage team had succeeded in securing the rudder amidships and a number of the vessel’s vital systems were brought on line. The Schieborg is a high-tech vessel and a senior engineer from the owner’s team gave valuable assistance in the engine room. Even so, Wednesday’s attempt at entry was frustrated by the weather.
Force 9 conditions and the need for complete control over the casualty required more tug power.
SvitzerWijsmuller’s large terminal tugs Fenja and Frigga arrived and connected at the stern, with the Esvagt Gamma at the bow and acting as steering tug.
The Neftegas 57 acted as escort as the Schieborg came to the berth during the evening of Friday.
The salvage team, wearing chemsuits and breathing apparatus throughout, continued to tackle fires in containers on the main deck. The last of the smouldering fires was extinguished a few days later. The casualty was safely redelivered and salvage services terminated on January 21.