MV Shiling to stay put overnight after ocean-going tug reaches ship

An ocean-going harbour tug, which happened to be in New Zealand when the MV Shiling lost power in heavy seas off Farewell Spit, has reached the container ship cargo to tow it to safety.

The tug, Skandi Emerald, managed to get a connection with Shiling at about 430pm.

”The tow vessel turned up and we were extremely impressed how quickly they had the vessel bow to weather,” said Conrad Adams who passed the Shiling while it was being taken under tow.

“Weather conditions were challenging but they made it look easy,” said Adams, who was heading to Australia on board FV Crusader.

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The crew aboard the stricken Shiling had been prepared to abandon ship as it drifted powerless on Friday.

The ship, with a crew of 24 on board, put an initial request through at 8.27am then issued a mayday at 11am. It was 22 nautical miles northwest of Farewell Spit.

The Defence Force, which has a plane above the 66,000-tonne MV Shiling, described the stricken vessel “drifting in rolling seas” after issuing a mayday and triggering a large emergency response. The ship had lost all power and steering.

A C-130 Hercules was diverted to the ship on Friday at the request of Maritime NZ’s Rescue Coordination Centre, later replaced by P-8A Poseidon. An Air Force NH90 helicopter was also on standby.

The mayday call was lifted as of 7pm and rescue response assets were being released. A Maritime NZ Incident Response Team however, would continue to monitor the situation while it also had an investigation underway.

The tug, Skandi Emerald, was earlier on its way to help from Taranaki and had since reached the MV Shiling on Friday evening.

It happened to be in New Zealand doing work for the petro-chemical industry.

Feedback from the master of the ship said the cargo was still secure, Maritime NZ’s Incident Controller Kenny Crawford earlier said.

A rescue helicopter from Nelson earlier raced to the scene at the same time as Wellington police launch Lady Elizabeth dashed across Cook Strait to Tasman Bay, via French Pass.

The Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter was returning to base on Friday afternoon to refuel and await further instructions after assessing the scene off Farewell Spit.

Swells of 5 metres around Farewell Spit were easing and would drop to two metres swells easing on Saturday, MetService meteorologist Gerard Bellam said.

South-west winds of 15 knots, which was “fairly moderate by coastal standards” would continue on Saturday, he said.

There would be “fair visibility” with a few showers on Saturday.

The Shiling had only recently been repaired after breaking down near the Wellington harbour heads in April. It was then cleared to leave the capital on Thursday before striking severe weather and 8-metre waves and having to take shelter.

The Shiling had been stranded in the capital since April 15 when it lost power over a main engine issue and drifted over the shallow Falcon Shoals.

That close call led Greater Wellington Regional Council chairperson Daran Ponter to reissue calls for the capital to have a harbour tug able to haul stricken vessels in big seas.

The ship left Wellington on Thursday after some trials for its home port in Singapore to conduct more repairs, but it hit rough weather near the Kāpiti Coast and had to stay in shelter with a series of movements of drifting and slow motoring.