Less than 5 % of the original quantity of bunker/diesel remains on board and will be recovered in conjunction with the upcoming salvage operation.
The Normand Flower has left the site and returned to Rotterdam to unload the oil pumped from the wreck. It will be disposed of in an environmental sound manner ashore.
Several samples of oil have been collected in affected areas in the channel coastal line in Holland, Belgium and France and analyzed for the purpose of assessing whether the oil has come from Tricolor. A number of analyzes conducted so far suggest that oil found ashore and on fouled seabirds has come from more than one source.
The two guard vessels, which have been on the site during the oil recovery operation, will remain for the time being in order to preserve safety. The cardinal buoy system and other safety measures will remain in place.
All involved parties are doing their utmost to avoid delays, prevent further pollution of the environment and to ensure the safety on site.
The wreck of Tricolor will hopefully be removed by the end of August this year, although the process very much will be weather dependant. A rough outline of the next steps is as follows:
End of February - Review and assessment of bids
Early March - Selection of contractor
End March - Complete contract negotiations
Early April - The selected contractor will mobilize and start the work
End August - Finalize wreck removal
The Tricolor collided with the Bahamas registered Kariba on Saturday 14 December and sank in The English Channel approx. 20 nautical miles NNW of Dunkerque. None of the crew members were injured in the collision. The damages to the Norwegian vessel were so extensive that the vessel sank within 30 minutes after the collision.
For further information:
Gard Services
Sven Henrik Svensen
Senior Vice President
Mobile phone: +47 97 55 91 15
Home phone: +47 37 02 20 72
E-mail: sven.henrik.svensen@gard.no
SMIT Salvage
Lars Walder
Public Relations Manager
Mobile phone: +31 (0) 10 454 9274
Office phone: +31 (0) 6 53 43 2765
E-mail: l.walder@smit.com
Wilh. Wilhelmsen
Per Rønnevig
Press Spokesman
Mobile phone: +47 91 83 16 00
E-mail: per@ronnevig.com
Link to Barber Ship Management's web site