When a vessel gets into distress, it usually happens offshore, so damage to a historic building on land is not the first thing that comes to mind. In the case of the grounding of the 80-metre-long Defiant, however, things were different.
During a storm, the tank barge ran aground on a reef adjacent to the centuries-old Castillo San Felipe del Morro fort in Puerto Rico.
Also read: Smit Salvage called in for burning tanker on North Sea
Oil removal and refloat
A salvage team from Boskalis’ American Salvage Marine Fire Fighting (SMFF) provider Donjon-Smit, which was joined by colleagues from Smit Salvage in the Netherlands, was mobilised to remove the oil from the Defiant and refloat the vessel.
Despite its hard-to-reach location, the team succeeded within a few days, preventing large-scale environmental pollution from an oil spill.
Picture: Defiant grounded close to Castillo San Felipe del Morro fort in Puerto Rico (photo by Boskalis).
Also read: How Smit Salvage removed oil from stranded vessel’s tanks
