Specialist salvors mobilise to lead tug recovery

Specialist marine salvors have mobilised on site at the Port of Devonport to lead the salvage of oil and fuel, as well as the recovery of TasPorts tugs Campbell Cove and York Cove, following a collision with commercial vessel Goliath on Friday 28 January 2022.

TasPorts Chief Operating Officer Stephen Casey said that United Salvage had been engaged to undertake the oil spill recovery phase of the salvage operation, which is anticipated to continue over the coming weeks and months.

“The specialist salvage team has arrived in Devonport along with more than 30 tonnes of equipment to support the operation,” he said.

“A Tasmanian dive team has also been engaged, who will undertake inspections today. The divers will commence assessments of the two submerged tugs to further understand the extent of the damage and develop a plan to stop further oil and fuel leakage from the vessels.

“We are working under the assumption that there is still a large quantity of oil and fuel onboard the vessels so these inspections will provide valuable input into planning. The extraction of the remaining fuel is a critical first step prior to the recovery of the vessels from the riverbed,” Mr Casey said.

“This is another step forward in actively managing this incident and being in this position so quickly after the incident occurred demonstrates the strong collaboration between all responding agencies.”