The Korea P&I Club has appointed Florida-based Resolve Marine to salvage the 73,000-dwt bulker Solomon Trader (built 1994), which has been aground for a month and leaking fuel oil off Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands.
The appointment comes as pressure mounts on the owner’s insurer to speed up the salvage and oil-spill containment operation, with around 75 tonnes of fuel oil already having leaked from the vessel and an estimated 600 tonnes still onboard and in danger of spilling.
Part of the Pacific island — one of the world’s largest raised coral atolls — is listed as a Unesco World Heritage site and the grounded ship is threatening considerable environmental damage.
The remote location of the vessel, which ran aground on 5 February during a cyclone, is adding to the difficulty of the salvage job and is prolonging the operation.
Insurance brokers are already expecting the salvage and clean-up bill to run into at least the tens of millions of US dollars, possibly up to $100m. Potentially massive pollution fines are expected to add to the insurance claim.
However, the vessel's owner, Hong Kong-based King Trader, and its insurer will have their liability for the spill limited under the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Pollution Damage. Under the convention, the owner's liability will be capped around $33m.
The Solomon Islands has asked Australia for assistance. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is sending spill containment equipment and is also closely coordinating the salvage operation. The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation is also assisting in the oil spill and environmental protection operation.
Resolve is also sourcing salvage hardware locally, but much of the equipment is still en route from Singapore and South Asia.
There are also no waste-oil disposal facilities available in the region and how to dispose of the oil waste could prove a major headache for salvors. Access to the Solomon Trader is also likely to prove difficult, with salvage ships having to cross the coral reef to reach it.
The best idea might be to declare it a wreck, clean it up and just leave it there
Salvage expert
It is understood Korea P&I is handling all of the salvage arrangements. Sources suggest the Seoul-based insurer does not have much experience in dealing with casualties of this scale and complexity.
Salvors are to prioritise stopping fuel spills and preventing additional leaks before they consider refloating the vessel, but many experts predict a prolonged salvage operation given the remote location.
One source suggested that removing the ship without further damaging the coral reef could prove impossible.
"The best idea might be to declare it a wreck, clean it up and just leave it there," one salvage expert said.
The vessel was understood to have been loading bauxite when it was overcome by the cyclone, but there is no indication about how much cargo is onboard.
The Solomon Trader, which has been trading under the Hong Kong flag since February 2008, has had relatively few port state control (PSC) inspections despite being 25 years old. Its last reported PSC inspection was in Yantai, China, in November 2017. The vessel is classed with ClassNK.
The bulker has mainly been employed in trading bauxite between the Solomon Islands and China for Indonesia’s Bintan Mining.
