BARGE BEGINS PUMPING OIL FROM SUNKEN “TRICOLOR”

BARGE BEGINS PUMPING OIL FROM SUNKEN “TRICOLOR”

BARGE BEGINS PUMPING OIL FROM SUNKEN “TRICOLOR”

   The “Asian Hercules II,” a barge fitted with a pump and holding tanks, has begun pumping bunker oil from the “Tricolor,” a Wilhelmsen Lines car carrier that capsized and sank in the English Channel on Dec. 14 after colliding with a containership.
   About 2,000 metric tons of bunker oil remaining within the hull of the submerged vessel has not leaked into the sea, the Scandinavian shipping company said. “The hull has not been breached,” Per Ronnevig, a spokesman for Wilhelmsen in Oslo, told Shippers News Wire on Monday.
   “Divers have connected hoses from the tanks within the ‘Tricolor’ to the holding tanks on the barge. They are working 24 hours a day, as sea conditions permit. We thought originally the oil would be pumped out in nine days. It appears now it will take 14 to 21 days, or less if conditions improve,” Ronnevig said.
   Wilhelmsen’s further plans for the “Tricolor” will be announced soon. Maritime experts have said that the wreck, given the shallowness of the water, is a threat to navigation in one of the busiest lanes of the Channel.