OPALU

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scrapped

scrapped at Papenburg,Germany 12/2012

Water ingress after allision

The fire brigade Stolzenau dewatered the "Opalu" on Sep 1, 2011, on the Weser. The ship was laden with 900 tons of scrap and had struck an obstruction at the Drakenburg lock which had damaged the hull on Aug 31. The ship had been en route from Bremen to Peine and moored at Nienburg during the night. The captain then observed water ingress and headed for a mooring place in Stolzenau. The crew of 2 closed off the cargo to prevent further ingress of the water and in vain tried to pump the water out. On Sep 1 at 11.20 a.m. the fire rescue Stolzenau including reinforcements from Holzhausen and Landesbergen were called. Also a boat of the fire department was on scene. The fire brigade started pumping out over the intruding water. The contaminated water was pumped into tanks. The water ingress was fortunately limited and the water level be maintained by by occasional pumping. A team of divers investigated the hull. The river authority ordered an oil barrier to prevent spills. Later the THW (technical support work) started pumping out the bilge water, because of its technical ability to separate oil and water. The volunteer fire departments ended their work after three hours. German report with photo: http://www.mt-online.de/start/letzte_meldungen_aus_der_region/4922814_Stolzenau_Binnenschiff_schlaegt_auf_der_Weser_Leck.html