The ship suffered major structural damage during a 19-day chemical fire after which it was declared as being in critical condition by Lloyd's Register. The damage was sustained in Korean waters, but the ship drifted into Japanese water during the incident.
Despite calls from a number of industry bodies for safe harbour for the vessel, and the potential for environmental damage should the tanker spill its 30,000 tonne hazardous cargo, a stalemate arose between South Korea and Japan. The vessel remained adrift, attended by tugs, until Korea permitted the vessel to be towed to the safety of the port of Ulsan in late April.
Maritime Maisie has now had its chemical cargo and fuel oils transferred off at Ulsan, completing its salvage.
Despite the near 100 day delay in granting safe harbour for the ship, MSI thanked the government of Korea and the port of Ulsan for their assistance in the vessel's salvage. The ship manager also praised the Korean Coast Guard, which safely evacuated the ship's crew.
"I would like to thank our people for working night and day on this for the past three months," commented Li Kwok Hung, md of MSI.
"We had the great good fortune of working with and being assisted by salvage experts, the best Classification societies in LR, LR SERS and KR, firefighters, chemists, tug boat crews, insurance experts, Hong Kong Marine Department, structure experts, supportive clients - the list is extraordinary, global and indicative of what a campaign like this requires of a twenty first century ship manager and owner when faced with such a challenge. Our thanks to them all."
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