Complex Ever Forward refloat operation set to get underway in Chesapeake Bay
Source:Splash247.com
2022.03.21
1673
It could take another seven days for the 11，850 teu Ever Forward to move from its grounded position off Chesapeake Bay.
Eight days on from the ship becoming stuck on the sea floor having departed the port of Baltimore， the salvage team in cooperation with shipowner Evergreen and the local authorities have a plan in place to get the ship refloated， but the operation is expected to take all week.
The plan involves releasing ballast to lighten the load， dredging the bay’s muddy floor around the ship and making space between the propeller and rudder and the seabed. Once the ship is light enough， and sufficient mud has been moved， the salvors will wait for a high tide and deploy tugboats to shift the 334 m long boxship.
Sal Mercogliano，a maritime historian at Campbell University in North Carolina， who has been watching the Ever Forward accident closely， suggested yesterday in a video update that the Evergreen ship was exceeding the recommended speed，doing 13 knots as it slipped out of the main navigation corridor， the Craighill Channel， and grounded.
The vessel’s draft was 13 m at the time of the grounding whereas the depth of water at the location of the grounding is reported to be only approximately 7.5 m.
“The apparent complexity， time and expense of the salvage operation now makes the possibility of shipowners declaring General Average more likely，” cargo claims specialist WK Webster stated in an update last week.
