The Standard Club has appointed Chinese state-backed salvor Guangzhou Salvage to remove the sunken wreck of a Thorco Shipping multipurpose (MPP) ship off the coast of Singapore.
The 10,385-dwt Thorco Cloud (built 2004) sank in December 2015 after a collision with the 37,438-dwt chemical tanker Stolt Commitment (built 2000) that claimed the lives of six seafarers.
The award makes it a near clean sweep for Chinese state-backed companies of the largest and most technically challenging wreck-removal contracts in the market.
Clean sweep
Shanghai Salvage is handling the removal of the wreck of the 2,194-teu Kea Trader (built 2017) off the coast of Durand Reef in the South Pacific.
As reported by TradeWinds in December, Chinese salvors are expected to be appointed to handle the wreck of the 1,118-teu SSL Kolkata (built 2006) off the coast of India.
The Thorco Cloud was the only remaining wreck-removal contract up for grabs before Guangzhou Salvage was awarded it.
The only recent exception has been the appointment of Resolve Marine to remove the wreck of the 73,600-dwt panamax bulker Solomon Trader (built 1994) off the Solomon Islands.
Chinese bids are attractive as not only are the salvors competitive on price, but they are also willing to offer a fixed price that will not alter if the circumstances of the salvage change.
The backing of the Chinese state has been an important factor in the companies being able to offer such financial guarantees.
Clients are also impressed with Chinese firms' technical capability.
The Thorco Cloud is lying at a depth of 70 metres (229 feet) and will be one of the deepest wreck removals ever undertaken.
The wreck broken in two and is likely to have degraded further after more than three years on the seabed.
Specialist equipment
The SSL Kolkata also requires specialist equipment, which will carefully break down the wreck piece by piece, to protect the environment, rather than the traditional method of cutting a wreck into sections, which could potentially prove damaging to the area.
Shanghai Salvage demonstrated its technical and engineering capability when it raised the wreck of the 6,825-gt ferry Sewol (built 1994) in one piece — in accordance with the terms of the contract — even though the vessel had degraded after four years on the seabed off South Korea.
This article has been amended since publication to reflect that the Thorco Cloud is lying at a depth of 70 metres.
