The hull of the overturned general cargo ship Britannica Hav (IMO 8506440) has been taken into tow by Abeille Liberté and was scheduled to take refuge Thursday afternoon at the port of Le Havre, said France’s Maritime Prefect yesterday.
A tow line was passed through the Britannica Hav’s bow thruster tunnel in order to bring her under control. The convoy proceeded towards Le Havre at a speed of about three knots. An exclusion zone of 500 metres was put in place around the convoy.
Britannica Hav, which carrying a cargo of 1,955 tonnes of steel – with 48 tons of light diesel fuel on board – from Santander to Scunthorpe, turned over following a collision with fishing vessel Deborah during the afternoon of March 20th. Maritime Prefect said that an oil sheen was spotted at the site following the incident, but there were no further reports of an oil spill.
All seven of the vessel’s crew members evacuated the vessel before it sank and were later airlifted by the helicopter to land.
Britannica Hav suffered damage to its centre port side, while four 15-by-20-foot hatches were separated from the vessel and were reported adrift.
Yesterday morning the hatches were drifting about 50nm northeast of Cherbourg. They were expected to be towed to Le Havre yesterday March 22nd.
1985-built, Malta-flagged, 1,521 gt Britannica Hav is owned by Hav Bulk AS of Raadal, Norway, and managed by Hav Shipmanagement Norrus AS of Kaliningrad, Russia. It is entered with Gard P&I Club (Bermuda) on behalf of Hav Bulk AS.