The inland vessel Humadivi, which hit the Borghaven weir and sank, is still stuck against the weir. Attempts to pull the vessel free have so far failed.
On Saturday morning, 12 October, at around 8.30 am, the inland vessel ran into the Borgharen weir and sank. The two crew were safely evacuated. The Humadivi, 67 metres long and loaded with white sand, was coming from Bosscherveld and, sailing – at the level of the Noorderbrug in the direction of Belgium – ran into trouble due to the strong current on the Meuse.
The vessel now lies with its back side under the shipping opening of the weir. This situation causes the water level in the Meuse between Belgium and Borgharen to drop. The western slide of the weir has been pulled so that the water level can be maintained as much as possible.
Also read: Ship hits weir and sinks, salvage planned
First salvage attempt results in broken line
On Monday, a first salvage attempt took place. The freighter was anchored to a pontoon. The pontoon is anchored to the bank across the Meuse.
Around 1 pm, the salvage crew tried to pull the vessel loose. Yet, around 2 pm, a line connecting the pontoon to the shore snapped. Work was stopped and the salvors returned to the drawing board for a new plan.
No movemement
New material was ordered for a new method for the second salvage attempt. This method ensures that tension is evenly distributed across the cables. The material arrived on Tuesday night and was subsequently attached.
At 12.30 am, the salvage crew started by removing the ship’s hatches. In the hours that followed, a pump was deployed to remove the last remnants of sand from the ship (despite that most of the sand had already been washed away by this time).
Around 4 am, the traction cables were tensioned several times to test whether it was possible to get movement in the ship in a reasonably smooth way. This was not yet the case. At 5 am, it was therefore decided to remove sand that had probably sunk into the front of the ship.
Also read: VIDEO: Inland container ship hits Willemsbrug in Rotterdam
Removing more sand and dredging
A crane vessel started removing two or three deck hatches from the sunken cargo ship on Wednesday morning. After that, as much of the remaining sand as possible was removed from this part of the ship and released into the Meuse, with the aim of making the ship as light as possible.
Another attempt to pull the sunken cargo ship loose from the weir started around 6.30 pm. By this time, the vessel had been lightered as much as possible by taking out the remaining sand and removing the cargo hold hatches. The area around the vessel has also been dredged.
From a firmly anchored winch pontoon, it was attempted to carefully pull the vessel loose. Some movement was seen. It was decided to install a pump in an enclosed space in the front of the ship. By pumping as much water as possible out of this space, the salvors sought to create additional buoyancy. All to no avail, however, and attempts to pull the ship free were abandoned around midnight.
The salvors are now investigating further how to get the ship away from the weir.
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Measures to maintain water levels
So far, various measures have been taken to keep the water level as stable as possible:
- A temporary mobile flood barrier has been installed. This will allow better control of the water level on the Meuse and protect houseboats. The temporary barrier consists of a kind of tube, which was filled with water on location.
- Behind Borgharen, construction has begun on a breakwater dam. This breakwater dam will function as an extra flood barrier. This is to ensure that the water level does not drop too much. This complements the already functioning temporary mobile flood defence at the Bosscherveld spillway dam.
- A pump has been placed at the entrance to the Juliana Canal. At the beginning of the Julianakanaal is the Limmel floodgate. It is now closed. If the water level in the Juliana Canal gets too low, the pump is used to supply water. This ensures sufficient water flow, which is necessary for water quality.
Picture (top): The salvage team tries to gently pull the stranded vessel loose with a winch pontoon (photo Rijkswaterstaat).
