An Ultrabulk-controlled multipurpose general cargo ship has been wrecked on the inhospitable west coast of South Africa.
The 13,800-dwt Ultra Galaxy (built 2008) has grounded on the shoreline north of the fishing village of Strandfontein, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) said late on Wednesday.
Photos provided by the maritime regulator showed it to have capsized onto its starboard side.
SAMSA said salvage efforts have switched to preventing and mitigating any potential pollution from the Ultra Galaxy’s low-sulphur bunker fuel oil and cargo of bagged fertiliser.
Attending to the casualty are two anchor-handling tug supply vessels from Singapore-based Pacc Offshore Service Holdings, the 16,300-bhp POSH Hawk (built 2013) and 16,000-bhp POSH Champion (built 2011).
Both AHTSs were dispatched to assist the Ultra Galaxy after it sustained an excessive list during a fierce storm on Monday.
The ship was on a voyage from Spain to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, according to vessel tracking websites. It had diverted around Africa, rather than taking the shorter route through the Suez Canal, to avoid attacks by Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The vessel’s crew abandoned ship shortly after it ran into trouble. Successfully rescued by a fishing vessel, they were safely transported to shore.
The prognosis for the Ultra Galaxy does not look good, salvage experts told TradeWinds.
The wreck continues to be battered by heavy swells caused by bad weather and high seas that closed the Port of Cape Town on Wednesday.
Weather forecasters have predicted the stormy weather will continue into next week with another cyclone likely to impact the South African coast this week.
The west coast of South Africa has a treacherous shoreline with numerous rocky outcrops and reefs. Even vessels that run aground on sandy stretches prove difficult to salvage in rough weather because powerful high waves drive large amounts of sand around a wreck, leaving it firmly embedded in the shore.
Those waves also cause vessels to break up quickly.
“It is not a shoreline that gives up its ships easily,” one salvage source said.
The S&P Global International Ships Register lists the Ultra Galaxy as owned by Fujita Shoji of Japan, with protection and indemnity coverage provided by NorthStandard.
Online platform VesselsValue estimated the ship to be worth $7.6m before it became a wreck.
