In an end to the stalemate between South Korea and Japan over which country would accept the risk of a 26,000 tone hazardous chemical spill, the vessel was finally towed into the Port of Ulsan on Tuesday.
A Lloyd’s Register survey found Maisie in critical condition and severely structurally weakened by severe fire damage and months of exposure to swells of 4 m, with concerns that the central hull girder would fail and break up.
“The vessel wasn’t safe enough for LR surveyors to get on board and properly assess the damage until March, but SERS, Lloyd’s Register Class and LR regional operations teams worked closely with MSI Ship Management throughout the period to keep them informed,” said Wijendra Peiris, LR’s Ship Emergency Response Service (SERS) team leader.
“This was quite an unusual situation and multiple teams in LR had to work together to resolve it. Maritime Maisie was a Hong Kong-flagged, Singapore-owned vessel carrying a hazardous cargo. After it was damaged in Korean waters, the vessel drifted into Japanese waters, its fire raging for well over a week.
“This, together with poor weather conditions, meant we had to make sure our calculations of the ships condition and recommendations to the owners were as accurate as possible.”
LR is now currently overseeing the unloading of the cargo, cleaning and salvage assessment in Ulsan, as well as assisting with transportation to either a repair or recycling facility.
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