Weather conditions in the north of New Zealand continue to delay the transfer of a damaged containership to the port of Wellington.
The 5,117-teu panamax Shiling (built 2005) lost power and steering on Friday 12 May, and has been anchored at Tasman Bay since Saturday 13 May, according to Maritime New Zealand (Maritime NZ).
Authorities confirmed Friday that the Singapore-flagged containership will remain where it is “until at least the start of next week”.
The anchor handling vessel Skandi Emerald (built 2011) has been supporting and will tow the Shilling to Wellington once the voyage and towage plans have been signed off, the weather conditions are judged safe for the tow and CentrePort has space for the vessel.
Maritime NZ said it needs to “sign off the plans before the two vessels can depart Tasman Bay”.
The towing of the Shiling by the Skandi Emerald is expected to take about 20 hours, and from its current location at Tasman Bay to Wellington is between 100 and 120 nautical miles depending on the route taken.
“This means conditions for Tasman Bay, the Cook Strait and Wellington need to be taken into account when planning the voyage,” said incident controller David Billington.
“Timings around the tow and arrival into Wellington are still to be confirmed. However, an opportunity has been identified for the tow to be undertaken early next week.”
Billington added that the crews of the Skandi Emerald and the Shiling have been working together with a towage expert to prepare for the transportation of the vessel.
Maritime NZ is working closely with the Wellington Harbourmaster and CentrePort as they plan for the Shiling’s journey to and arrival in Wellington.
Maritime NZ has said the 24 crew on board the Shiling were safe, the ship was sound, and weather conditions in the area were stable.
The Shiling is owned by DP World’s Feedertech, with technical management provided by Singapore-based Asian-Alliance Ship Management (ASM).
The ship is entered with the Swedish Club and has had no port-state-control detentions on its record since 2014.
