Tanker Propontis to dock in Finnish city of Porvoo

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The ill-fated Greek tanker Propontis, which touched bottom in the Gulf of Finland on Friday, looks set to proceed to dock in the Kilpilahti Harbour in the Finnish city of Porvoo, tomorrow, Wednesday.
      Once in dock, it seems certain that the vessel's 100,000-ton cargo of crude oil will be pumped out immediately. The Finnish oil company Neste has agreed to buy the oil cargo.
      Director Erkki Kotiranta from Neste Shipping estimated on Monday that the ship's proceeding into the Finnish harbour should happen without a hitch.
      "It will be brought in with extreme caution", Kotiranta says.
      The weather forecast appears to be favouring the operation.
     
On Monday morning the Propontis came from the west side of the Kalbådagrund lighthouse to anchor in the Svartbäck Bay of Porvoo's Kilpilahti.
      Accompanied by a tugboat, the 250-metre vessel will use its own engines to reach the dock. The harbour regulations insist on the use of a tug.
      The full extent of the damage sustained by Propontis as well as the vessel's seaworthiness can only be verified in full once all its tanks have been emptied. The vessel will be examined by Bureau Veritas, an independent assessor of seaworthiness for ships.
     
Paavo Wihuri, director of Maritime Safety at the Finnish Maritime Administration, estimated on Tuesday that the Propontis would be allowed to leave Porvoo for repairs in a dockyard on Thursday at the earliest.
      According to Wihuri, safety is of higher priority than how quickly the vessel is able to resume operations.
      "We want to avoid additional problems", he says.
      The ship's 25-man crew is working onboard to prevent further damage.
      Once its tanks have been emptied, Propontis is likely to be moved for repairs into a dockyard in the city of Naantali on the west coast of Finland.
      Last week, early on Friday morning, the Greek-registered tanker scraped the bottom in Russian territorial waters, west of the island of Suursaari. The vessel was carrying 100,000 tons of crude oil from the Russian Primorsk oil terminal, heading to Britain. The double-hull construction of the vessel prevented what might have been a very serious environmental disaster.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Tanker runs aground in Gulf of Finland - major environmental disaster averted (12.2.2007)

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