Namibia: Atlantic West Coast shipwrecks: "Fukuseki Maru" & "Gamsberg" | Кораблекрушения Намибии

Namibia: West Coast shipwrecks: "Fukuseki Maru" & "Gamsberg" | Кораблекрушения у западного побережья Намибии

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NAMIBIA

SKELETON COAST NATIONAL PARK

SHIPWRECKS

30. "Fukuseki Maru"

Date: 22 March 2018

Mile 108

GPS: -21.308333, 13.695838

MVF "Fukuseki Maru No 7", Japanese tuna fishing longliner vessel ran aground near Mile 108, south of Ugab River estuary, near Durissa Bay, on 22 March 2018. The ship was en-route with tuna catch from Angola fishing grounds to Walvis Bay. It grounded on coastal rocks, crew evacuated. Navigational error was the cause of this accident.

IMO 9141223, Call sign JEKB, GT 577, built 1996, flag Japan.

Present wreck's location GPS coordinates: -21.308333, 13.695838.

31. "Gamsberg"

Date: 02 June 1981

Sandwich Harbour

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Namibia: Japanese vessel stuck off West Coast | Японский траулер сел на мель в Намибии

#FukusekiMaru #Namibia #SkeletonCoastincident #UgabRivermouth #DurissaBay #WalvisBay #NipponSalvageCompany #Swakopmund #Mile108 #Японскийтраулер #БерегСкелетов #Намибия

Японский рыболовецкий траулер сел на мель на знаменитом Берегу Скелетов в Намибии

Another victim of the infamous Skeleton Coast in Namibia

Japanese registered fishing vessel, MVF "Fukuseki Maru" No. 7, went on shore rocks on 22 March 2018 south of Ugab River mouth, near Durissa Bay, around 200 km north of Walvis Bay. It is stuck about 2 km from the shore. Bad weather is delaying and interrupting all attempts of pulling the stranded ship off the sea rocks.

The vessel landed onto a rocky reef just off Namibian shore. The crew of 24 foreign nationals have already been evacuated.

When the vessel was grounded some bottom fuel tanks were penetrated and Marine Gas Oil (MGO) leaked into the sea. The risk to the marine and coastal environment is low because the Marine Gas Oil (MGO) is a light concentrate fuel which will mostly evaporate and be dispersed naturally. The leakage has been contained and no oil pollution has reached the shore.

"Fukuseki Maru" is fully insured. The owners of vessel have procured the services of a Japanese Salvage company, Nippon Salvage Company Ltd for the purpose of salvaging "Fukuseki Maru" with the help of Namibian experts.

SA Amandla, a specialized salvage Namibian vessel, called in Walvis Bay from Cape Town on 25 March 2018 to attempt pulling the stranded ship off the rocks.

The owners of Fukuseki Maru may declare a total loss if salvage is not successful and the cost of salving the vessel exceeds her value. The operation would transition from salvage to wreck removal if this happens. This will be confirmed by a Wreck Removal Order that is issued by the Minister of Works and Transport in terms of the Wreck and Salvage Act of 2004 and the Prevention and Combating of Pollution of the Sea by Oil Act of 1981.

The circumstances surrounding the incident on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast are still doubtful and questions surrounding the vessel that is not registered to fish in Namibia’s territorial waters remain unanswered.

"Fukuseki Maru" was last positioned at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa before incident and it was recorded on her way to the port Benoa. The ship is not under charter from any Namibian or Angolan fishing company. Officially "Fukuseki Maru" was fishing in the high seas in international waters in the south-eastern part of the Atlantic. Another question that remains unanswered is why this vessel ended up at the Namibian shoreline on a reef of rock while under way from the high seas to the port of Walvis Bay.