Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter
The container ship Shiling photographed by Carl Babe, a crew member of the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter. The ship lost engine power and was adrift off Farewell Spit, at the top of the South Island.
An ocean-going tugboat has left the side of the Shiling in Tasman Bay to swap crew in preparation to tow the stricken container ship to Wellington.
Maritime New Zealand, overseeing the operation, said on Wednesday that once a towing plan was confirmed, the Skandi Emerald would tow the Shiling through Cook Strait to Wellington Harbour.
The Shiling lost power and steering last Friday and has been anchored at Tasman Bay since Saturday.
The Skandi Emerald towed the vessel from where it initially lost power 22 nautical miles north-northwest of Farewell Spit to its current anchorage point in the middle of the bay.
READ MORE:
* First Kaitaki, then Shiling but plans under way for Wellington rescue tug
* Stricken Shiling tipped to return to Wellington – the scene of its previous failure
* Drifting, powerless cargo ship MV Shiling to remain at sea overnight
Marinetraffic.com website showed thetug heading inshore on Wednesday morning.
Maritime New Zealand incident controller David Billington said the tug was undergoing a crew change and supplies were also being taken to the Shiling.
“This change over requires the Skandi Emerald to come closer to shore to enable the crew swap.
“A towage expert will also be boarding the Shiling later this afternoon (Wednesday) to support the connection between the two vessels, the tow plan and the voyage to Wellington.”
MV Shiling being taken under tow by the ocean-going tug, Skandi Emerald, which came to the stricken container ship. Video taken by Lottie McCloy from FV Crusader.
Billington said the timing of the departure and arrival at Wellington’s CentrePort was weather dependent. He said their priority was to make sure the operation was undertaken as safely as possible.
The towage plans were developed by the Shiling and Skandi Emerald, with oversight from Maritime NZ.
The Skandi Emerald was a privately owned ocean going tugboat which was in the vicinity of Shiling when it lost power. New Zealand does not have its own vessel of that kind.
The Minister of Transport Michael Wood said safety of the transport networks was his “number one priority”.
Wood said he was seeking advice from Maritime New Zealand and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission on whether there was a need for “additional resources for some of our more dangerous and frequently used bodies of water”.
”Due to our population and geography, there are limitations to the number of assets we can have on stand by for emergency events.”