| Welcome to Natural Hazards Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Bulk Carrier Hard Aground at Popular Dive Site in Philippines | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: 14 Jun 2016, 10:08 PM (20 Views) | |
| skibboy | 14 Jun 2016, 10:08 PM Post #1 |
|
Bulk Carrier Hard Aground at Popular Dive Site in Philippines June 14, 2016 by Mike Schuler ![]() The MV Belle Rose aground on Monad Shoal. Credit: Philippines Coast Guard The Philippine Coast Guards says that a Panama-flagged bulk carrier has damaged hundreds of meters of coral reef off Cebu after running aground on Monday. The PCG confirmed Tuesday that the MV Belle Rose, a 183-meter bulk carrier, ran aground June 13 at about 3 a.m. on Monad Shoal, a famous diving site known as one of the only places on earth where you can consistently spot thresher sharks in the wild. The Coast Guard said that a hull inspection revealed that the vessel’s hull is completely resting on the seabed, causing damage to an estimated 483 meters of coral reef. So far there have been no signs that any oil has been released into the environment. The Coast Guard said the ship was loaded with 48,000 tons of cement powder when it ran aground, but as of Tuesday the cargo had been transferred to a sister ship of the Belle Rose. Salvage operations to refloat the vessel were continuing as of Tuesday. The location of the grounding is approximately 4 nautical miles southeast of Malapascua Island in Daanbantayan, Cebu. The 50,472 DWT Belle Rose was built in 2010. According to AIS data, the ship was sailing from Nantong, China and due to arrive in Cebu Monday morning. Diving websites say that the Monad Shoal attracts divers from all over the world, and is often crowded especially around sunrise. It sits on the edge of a steep 200 meter drop off and ranges in depth from 20 to 27 meters. Source: gCaptain
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 19 Jun 2016, 10:26 PM Post #2 |
|
Operation to Refloat Belle Rose Under Way![]() Belle Rose aground on Monad Shoal coral (image courtesy earthrace) 2016-06-19 On Saturday, the operation to refloat the grounded bulker Belle Rose from a protected coral reef in the Philippines began, with two tugboats pulling at the stern and one guiding the bow. The effort began at high tide in the morning and was paused after an hour and a half for additional deballasting from her forward tanks; salvors are using three portable pumps to remove water as the Rose's ballast pump has failed. Malayan Towage and Salvage is leading the effort, and a spokesman for the firm said that the Rose had moved about 250 feet astern during the first attempt. "The movement was due to high tide and the discharge of water from the forward section of the vessel," said Noel Kimmayong, the salvors' superintendent. The operation was suspended for the day as the tide receded; salvors will be aided today for their next attempt by a slightly higher high tide. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPc2o2wYNBY An inspector who participated in the planning effort for the refloat said that she was aground at the bow in 30 feet of water and would need about 36 feet to refloat. At the stern she had about 42 feet of water depth. Divers have placed underwater markers for monitoring her path back off the shoal. The 50,000 dwt, Panamanian-flagged Rose went onto the shark sanctuary and dive destination of Monad Shoal off Daanbantayan, Cebu province on June 13, damaging about 3,000 square meters of reefs. Her captain, Vichar Neil delos Reyes, told authorities that the vessel changed course in order to avoid a group of fishermen, then ended up going aground. She is fully loaded with materials used for the production of cement, and if the attempt to tow her back off the shoal is not successful, the backup plan is to lighter about 300 tonnes of her cargo. Monad Shoal is a locally protected shark and ray sanctuary. Local environmental groups have called for the arrest of the vessel pending payment for damages to a 500 meter by 60 meter section of reef. In 2014, Australian port state control authorities cited the Rose for five deficiencies, including issues related to her shipboard operations plan, voyage or passage plan, monitoring of voyage or passage plan and rest period records. More recent inspections found no significant issues. The Belle Rose’s operator could not be immediately reached for comment. Source:
|
![]() |
|
| skibboy | 20 Jun 2016, 10:05 PM Post #3 |
|
Grounded Bulk Carrier Refloated from Famous Philippine Reef June 20, 2016 by Mike Schuler ![]() MV Belle Rose. File photo: MarineTraffic.com A Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier has been refloated after running aground on at a world-famous diving site off Cebu, Philippines last week. The ship, MV Belle Rose, was refloated Saturday morning and moved to an anchorage off the coast San Fernand, Cebu under its own power. According to reports a salvage team from Malayan Towage and Salvaging Corp. used three tugs to pull the vessel into deeper water where they then tested the ships engines and further inspected the hull for damages. No oil spill has been reported. The 183-meter Belle Rose ran aground June 13 on Monad Shoal, a famous dive site known as one of the only places on earth where you can consistently spot thresher sharks in the wild. The reef sits on the edge of a steep 200 meter drop off and ranges in depth from 20 to 27 meters. The Philippine Coast Guard estimated previously that 483-meters of coral reef has been damaged as a result of the grounding. The location of the grounding was approximately 4 nautical miles southeast of Malapascua Island in Daanbantayan, Cebu. The 50,472 DWT Belle Rose was built in 2010. The ship was sailing from Nantong, China to Cebu when the incident occurred. Source: gCaptain
|
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Marine · Next Topic » |




gCaptain





3:54 PM Jul 11