Wow...... looks pretty bad...... nice sandbar building up, though. Anyone remember La Janelle at Silverstrand in Oxnard heading into Port Hueneme?
Caught years worth of good waves off of her cut up remains.bajarich - 1-30-2006 at 11:25 PM
The photos show the tugs pulling at 45 degrees to almost 90 degrees. Just from my experience in handling canoes stuck in the mud, it seems like they
would be better off pulling in the direction the boat is facing rather than trying to turn it while it is stuck in the sand. It seems like there
would be less resistance.
ENSENADA ? The beach south of the city's port is refusing to release its grip on the container ship APL Panama, and salvage teams are now looking at
the next step: unloading half its cargo with one of the world's largest helicopters.
?By taking off half the weight . . . they could refloat it,? said Capt. Jos? Luis R?os Hern?ndez, Ensenada's harbor master.
Stuck since Dec. 25, the 880-foot APL Panama has budged somewhat, despite two considerable endeavors this month to pull its bow away from shore. The
most recent effort, which began Friday and continued yesterday morning, has involved six tugboats and hydraulic pulling machines, with a combined
capacity of more than 80,000 horsepower.
The bow has moved only 35 degrees since the pulling started earlier this month, the salvage master says. That is just over one-third of the total
distance needed to pull the vessel to open water. Salvage workers believe a major problem has been the 30,000 tons of cargo.
Alongside the APL Panama, the morning scene in recent days had its own routine. A sleepy-eyed crew arrived just after daybreak to board the ship. Men
in white jumpsuits scoured the beach for signs of oil. Bulldozers rumbled down the sand, while Mexican sailors stood guard. Off shore, smoke rose from
the tugs' exhaust as they pulled on the APL Panama at high tide.
The efforts are being led by Florida-based Titan Maritime LLC, a worldwide maritime salvage company. It wants to fly in a Russian-made MIL Mi-26
helicopter, capable of lifting close to 20 tons, said R?os, the harbor master. Titan has located one in Peru that could be prepared in 48 hours.
The weight is not the only impediment to moving the ship. Banks of sand accumulating underwater are trapping it, and the salvors are trying to find a
way to loosen the sand. Last weekend, Titan had hoped to have a giant underwater hose in place to displace some of the sand, but it broke in several
places as it was being carried out in the surf.
The timing of the next phase was uncertain yesterday. R?os said Titan representatives are expected to discuss their plans today in Ensenada with
representatives from city, state and federal agencies.
Local officials have been growing increasingly worried about fuel spills. As of yesterday morning, three spills have been reported since the middle of
the month, totaling nearly 265 gallons.
Although most of the fuel has been removed from the ship, a small amount remains, and officials say cracks have led to leaks at low tide from a
fuel-contaminated ballast tank.
JC Environmental Co. of National City has been responsible for cleaning the spills, and it maintains a boom alongside the vessel's starboard side.
?So far, we have not identified flora and fauna that have been affected,? said Ricardo Castellanos Percevault, the top official in Baja California for
Mexico's environmental watchdog agency, known as PROFEPA. ?But the fact that there is fuel on the beach makes us uncomfortable, and what makes us even
more uncomfortable is the fact that we have this cargo ship on the beach.?
PROFEPA has gone to court to seize the vessel, Castellanos said, as a guarantee that the owners will fix any environmental damage before leaving
Mexico.
Meanwhile, those with containers must stand by. Among them is Sony Electronics Inc., which has raw materials and components for liquid crystal display
televisions produced in Baja California as well as finished goods for the Mexican retail market, spokesman Rick Clancy said.
?We don't know yet when cargo will be available for pickup,? read a customer advisory from the cargo company, APL, posted yesterday on its Web site.BajaNews - 1-31-2006 at 10:37 AM
The stranded container ship APL Panama remained grounded Sunday at low tide on an Ensenada beach. The ship's bow has been moved a total of 35 degrees
since a pulling effort by salvage crews began several weeks ago.
Photo: JOHN GIBBINSBajaNews - 1-31-2006 at 10:38 AM
01/27/2006: An armada of tugboats and a powerful pulling barge worked at daybreak to free the stranded container ship APL Panama from the beach south
of the entrance to Ensenada harbor.
Photo: JOHN GIBBINS
x
Bruce R Leech - 2-1-2006 at 09:02 PM
bajaandy - 2-2-2006 at 10:47 AM
Classic Bruce.... just classic.Skeet/Loreto - 2-2-2006 at 12:18 PM
I cannot s stand to see that Barge Stuck any Longer there fore I am going to offer my advice Free for its Removal.
Very Simple; Float another Barge with a Craneup close at High Tide, Swing eac contanier off and onto an empty Barge on the other sie, when finished
with the off-loading ,attach the Tugs and pull it back into deep Water.
I have experience so if any one knows who to Contact give them my Email and Resume:
In 1968 A Japan Ailines Boeing 707 landed short of the Runway approaching San Francisco Airport; It landed in 7 feet of Water and several more feet of
Mud; It was my responsiblilty for moving this aircraft to dry Land.
Brought a Barge with a Crane, lifted it up , set it onto the barge, pulled the Barge to a Concrete runway, then the aircraft on to Dry land.
maybe I could make some money out of this. I will pay 10% commission if a deal is done!
Skeet/Loretobackninedan - 2-2-2006 at 02:08 PM
Skeet, you surprise me, your usual anwers to problems are to pray for it or nuke it.
[Edited on 2-2-2006 by backninedan]
Barge
BajaDanD - 2-2-2006 at 05:53 PM
There you go then we would have two vessels stuck in the sand in Ensenada
OH!! wait a minute there is already two I forgot about the Catalina just down the beach
I wonder what a barge would be good for stuck on the beach maybe a parking lot for the Casino / container ship/ Walmart, stuck in the sand next to it.
Sort of like the LaBrea tar pits, it keeps luring in ships that then get stuck then more and more ships come when they hear the cries from the stuck
ships and the cycle continues for thousands of years.
they're bringing in rocks
sylens - 2-2-2006 at 06:15 PM
and constructing a spit of land kind of like a wharf where i understand they are planning to bring a crane and remove the containers onto waiting
trucks...but who knows
we're also awaiting arrival of a larger helicopter from peru??? that can handle heavier containers than the ones the evergreen can handle.
they gave up trying to blow water at the sand that's keeping her stuck, because the huge (18" diameter) black hose they tried to put together kept
coming undone.
come on down, skeet, give it a try. you can stay at our place. we watch the show from our bedroom window.Skeet/Loreto - 2-3-2006 at 02:52 PM
Thanks for th Offer!
Let me know if they do get it off. Does anyone know for sure what is inside the containers??
SkeetflyfishinPam - 2-3-2006 at 04:01 PM
I heard it was filled with motorcycles for the liberal nekid dope smoking gay penguin festival. good luck getting that thing off the beach.
[Edited on 2-3-2006 by flyfishinPam]
some of the cargo
sylens - 2-3-2006 at 06:19 PM
includes electronic equipment, and equipment for maquiladores, among which is some fairly corrosive stuff that reports have indicated is packaged
according to the highest international maritime standards. chief of bomberos (fire department) was saying risk of damage is very small, as long as it
stays on the ship. if it sinks, risk of environmental damage is substantial. and moving it poses somewhat greater risk than leaving it where it is,
assuming ship can be moved to a "safer" place to unload.
my bet is it'll be largely unloaded and afloat with lots of help from tugs and into dry dock by end of february.
my betting instincts are generally inaccurate, though.
plans f g and h or so.
1. continue with helicopters to unload empty and lighter containers;
2. use crane mounted on treads to remove the heavier containers (on the rock jetty they are building now);
3. try and power spray the sand away from where it's keeping the ship stuck and dredge a channel to giver her a path while the 80 K horses do their
job.
authorities are requesting people stay away to make the transportation of containers to the port relatively safe and uneventful. good luck.vandenberg - 2-3-2006 at 07:35 PM
When I was in my teens a freighter, lot smaller then this one, got washed on the beach in Holland during one of the North Sea's famous northern
storms. It sat actually high and dry on the sand. Bulldozers dug the sand away from around it. They also used a dragline to remove lots of sand and
finally had it dig a channel into the sea. After several tries with about 3 to 4 tugs in the ocean, they drug it of the beach within a week. But then
of course, us Dutch are wizzards with everything that has to do with the sea, hehehehbackninedan - 2-3-2006 at 07:45 PM
Pam,
I didnt realize it was festival time already, Id better get my bike waxed.bajabound2005 - 2-4-2006 at 12:36 AM
Here's our 2 bits after having a good look at this thing this week -- get 10,000 labrador retrievers. Harness them all with cables and tie the cables
to the boat. Throw out one tennis ball into the water....mcgyver - 2-4-2006 at 11:52 PM
Well everyone have their fun with ideals to remove this ship from the beach but Crowley Marine are experts and it will be removed by standard recovery
methods. IE: A suction dredge will dig a channel from it to the regular channel and they will pull it off the beach. Right now they are worried about
the cargo ( Cargo salvage and hull salvage are separate matters) see this link http://www.cargolaw.com/ , once it is off standard methods will move this vessel. If you were a salvage master and making the big bucks from a
Lloyd's standard salvage agreement ( No Cure -No Pay) ( The longer and more difficult the job the more the court will award the savager) you would not
be in a hurry either! This is a straight insurance job with little chance of collateral damage from a massive oil spill like a tanker would do. If
their were any chance of big time losses other than already happened you would not see all these big name company's and people rushing to get a little
piece of it.
some of the cargo
sylens - 2-5-2006 at 04:05 PM
was destined to a large nissan manufacturing plant in aguascalientes. the plant has had to freeze operations because of the lack of materials...Sharksbaja - 2-5-2006 at 04:20 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by sylens
was destined to a large nissan manufacturing plant in aguascalientes. the plant has had to freeze operations because of the lack of materials...
Well gee what a conundrum! It's not like you couldn't off-load those containers as they are oriented to be removed in order anyway.
Why, then could they not truck then away to Calexico?
What a no-brainer.
Hey, at least they get to watch the Super Bowl.
That is if Mexicans care.
Do they?
More cargo-carrying helos this week
Gypsy Jan - 2-5-2006 at 06:29 PM
Everyday this week, containers flying north.
some mexicans enjoy super bowl
sylens - 2-6-2006 at 05:01 PM
like our across the street neighbors who invited us to a "carne asada" (barbecue to us gringos) to watch the tv and the crane offloading containers
from apl panama from their rooftop terrace. one was an avid steelers fan who kept in touch with 14 buddies at another location watching the game. 12
were seahawk fans and the other two were steeler fans.
as for offloading, remember there was only the one helicopter doing that (and it was limited in the weight it could carry) until this weekend when
they constructed the jetty and brought in the giant crane. now the chopper is handling cargo at the bow and the crane is handling containers at the
stern. they are moving very quickly now. i'll try and get a photo tomorrow to post as the ship becomes de-cargoized.
we are now very hopeful it will leave friday or saturday with the high tide and 80 thousand horsepower.Bruce R Leech - 2-6-2006 at 05:25 PM
can any one post new pictures that show the jetty and crane?
jetty and crane photos
sylens - 2-6-2006 at 07:06 PM
i'll try and post tomorrow after taking a couple...
trying to post photo of blue container
sylens - 2-7-2006 at 04:15 PM
being lowered by huge crane on jetty onto waiting rig. but i have not posted photo before and clearly do not know how. i resized it to under 50kb,
clicked browse and double clicked on jpg file. more help please??bajabound2005 - 2-7-2006 at 05:53 PM
Sylens - don't use the quick reply at the bottom of the page -- at the top of the page click on POST REPLY -- at the bottom of the next page you'll
see where you can attach the photo.David K - 2-7-2006 at 07:43 PM
Sylens, if you want.. email the photo(s) to me and I will post it here for you until you get the hang of it... info AT vivabaja.com Bruce R Leech - 2-8-2006 at 08:27 PM
I really need an update and hopefully some pictures.
Crane removes containers to lighten grounded vessel
BajaNews - 2-9-2006 at 07:59 PM
Jetty first is built to stranded ship
By Sandra Dibble
February 9, 2006
The container vessel APL Panama, stranded since Christmas Day off an Ensenada beach, now has its own jetty.
Salvors commissioned the 500-foot rock-and-sand ramp and hired a giant crane to carry containers ashore. The operation is the latest in a series of
attempts to lighten the ship's load and get it floating again.
Weighed down by cargo and pinned in by sand, the 880-foot APL Panama has refused to leave the broad sandy beach where it ran aground more than seven
weeks ago.
The ship was on a trans-Pacific route, and its cargo included electronic components for Baja California manufacturing plants as well as parts for car
factories in central Mexico. The delay in delivery prompted Nissan, the Japanese car manufacturer, to stop producing vehicles for three days last week
at its Aguascalientes facility.
Led by Florida-based Titan Maritime LLC, salvage efforts since the grounding reportedly have succeeded in moving the bow 35 degrees, about a third of
the distance necessary to pull it away from shore. A major effort late last month involved six tugboats and a barge equipped with hydraulic pullers,
with a combined capacity of more than 80,000 horsepower.
Yesterday, as onlookers gazed from a distance, containers were hooked to the crane and lifted off the ship. The crane swung each container over to a
waiting truck, where a worker maneuvered it into place.
The Baja California construction company Amaya Curiel y Cia S.A. de C.V. built the jetty. Company President Roberto Curiel said yesterday the 300-ton
crawler crane, with a 250-foot boom, has been working around the clock since Sunday, and moving up to 60 containers per day. About 1,500 containers
were on board yesterday, said Mike Hanson, spokesman for the ship's owner.
Leaders of the salvage effort had hoped they wouldn't have to resort to the costly land-based operation. They initially relied on a Sikorsky Sky Crane
helicopter to remove some of the lighter containers from the ship. But many of the boxes weigh more than the helicopter's 20,000-pound carrying
capacity.
Titan Maritime executives have told local officials that they are also hoping to bring in a more powerful helicopter, a Russian-made Mil-25 to lift
the heavy containers. But the helicopter had yet to make an appearance yesterday.
Capt. Jos? Luis R?os Hern?ndez, Ensenada's harbor master, said renewed pulling efforts are expected during the next few days. Salvage workers must not
only remove cargo, but also find ways to remove the sand that is trapping the vessel.
Meanwhile, the delay has had its consequences in central Mexico. Nissan was missing parts that were in about 100 containers, and as a result, did not
produce vehicles on Jan. 30, 31 and Feb. 1 at its 5,000-employee facility in Aguascalientes, said Fred Standish, director of corporate communications
for Nissan North America Inc. Alternative supplies were found, and production resumed last Thursday, Standish said. ?It's been running full steam ever
since.?
----------
A large crawler crane working on a newly constructed rock-and-sand jetty lifts a container off the APL Panama. Photo by CHARLIE NEUMANDianamo - 2-9-2006 at 08:02 PM
Hey, is that thing big enough to land a jet from SFO on? Save me some
time on I5.bajabound2005 - 2-14-2006 at 09:41 PM
How about a progress report from you locals? We won't be back to that area til 6/1...and well maybe the ship will still be stuck there; but we'd love
to know what the current status is!
Not Local , Loco?, maybe
BajaDanD - 2-14-2006 at 10:45 PM
We are going by there friday morning and again on tuesday I'll take lots of pics and try to get the latest scoop.
local update
sylens - 2-15-2006 at 06:21 PM
ensenada.net reports that apl panama is now oriented at 40 degrees, an increase of 5. in doing that, however, the ship has moved away from the jetty,
so no containers were removed this weekend. jetty needs to be re-joined to ship so huge crane offloadings can resume.
thus far 390 containers have been removed, with a goal to take off 500. in addition to nissan parts, some of the containers contain materials and
equipment for nike and ford.
the latest plan is to bring in a dredge to carve out a channel to refloat apl panama. the francisco di giorgio, of belgian company jan de nul,
currently in nicaragua, is due into ensenada in 10-12 days.
this dredge will build a 300-400 meter canal. it operates by dredging as it moves, expelling sand from the stern as it cuts a channel from the bow(?)
it is capable of moving 4,400 cubic meters of sand per hour.
again, many of us are dispirited that the boat is still there; and yet again, hopes rise for the success of the next phase: francisco di giorgio.JZ - 2-16-2006 at 11:46 AM
Why did it take them so long to determine they would need to dredge. That seemed pretty obvious. I bet with the dedge that will get it off quickly.
On History Channel on the program Modern Marvels I saw a show a couple weeks back dedicated to the worlds largest dredges. Pretty impressive stuff.mcgyver - 2-18-2006 at 06:02 AM
mcgyver
Thats cool, kinda like the shipping newsPhil C - 2-22-2006 at 05:46 AM
While in Rosarito on Sunday, saw a big helicopter with a container on a sling heading north quite slowly. Seems like an expensive trip from Ensenada.
container
sylens - 2-22-2006 at 07:25 PM
headed all the way to the usa does seem odd and very expensive. most of the containers are flown to the ensenada port where under tight security they
await further instructions (i.e., whether by land or by sea)...to proceed.
Some fear the grounded container ship will never be floated back out to sea.
By Coty Dolores Miranda
February 23, 2006
ENSENADA, Baja California - Meter by meter, the behemoth freighter APL Panama is struggling to return to the sea.
There are some observers who don't think it will ever happen, that she may instead break apart on Conelep Beach.
Grounded Christmas night by a miscalculation made by the captain and crew, the 868-foot vessel has sat on sand, the new-est Ensenada tourist
attraction.
The majority of the containers on the aft deck have been removed by a Sikorski sky crane helicopter and moved to the port district office, 1 1/2
nautical miles north.
Even more of the 1,800 containers originally aboard are now being moved by truck, thanks to the new rock jetty built by Florida-based Titan Maritime
Salvagers, LLC.
Monday afternoon, the bow appeared to be moved 45 deg-rees to starboard, now facing Punta Banda. Three giant cranes, one perched on the jetty's end
and two smaller tractor cranes, assisted the removal of containers from amidships and astern.
Four tugs were seen continuing their efforts, despite Mon-day's northwest winds that pressed her further ashore and reconfigured the swirling sand
dunes around her.
Bright orange plastic fencing marks the perimeter and armed guards with automatic weapons slung over their shoulders are on duty 24 hours.
There's no more standing surfside to have one's photo taken by the ship. Instead, the guards, a construction trailer and a generator enable
floodlights that are now ubiquitous.
What's worrisome is the ship's propeller still lies many feet below the surface, buried in surf and sand.
APL Panama is owned by Mare Britannicum Schiffahrts-geselle Schaft of Germany and chartered by the global container transportation company APL. The
vessel made regular stops in Ensenada before traveling farther south and heading west across the Pacific to Japan, Taiwan and China.
fenced off
BajaDanD - 2-23-2006 at 07:18 PM
Yeah! I was there monday and the red plastic fence was nearly burried. I drove my truck out on the beach past it then parked and walked my dog right
up to the jetty with the crane on it, got up on the jetty and took pictures I could have walked right up to the ship. There were joggers and dog
walkers and nobody was stopping them either. Most people have lost interest. Military guys I saw, saw me and didnt say a word.
ENSENADA, Mexico -- The container ship that ran aground on a beach in Ensenada more than two months ago is still stuck, 10News reported.
Progress has been made, but there is a long way to go.
The APL Panama has moved slightly, but its rudder and propeller remain buried in the sand.
Crews have been unloading its containers hoping to make the ship lighter. So far, more than 700 have been removed and hauled away.
"The highest tide of the year was on the 28th of last month. They blew it and didn't get it out of there. Someone is nickel and diming it to death,"
said a man who claimed to be in the ship salvage industry.
Once they remove more containers, they plan to dredge a 40-foot-deep channel perpendicular to the ship in hopes of floating the ship away from the
beach.
Since the ship got stuck two months ago, it's become an attraction. But the number of people coming by appears to be down. because officials have shut
down the beach.
"The first two days, it was a carnival atmosphere. It was a lot of fun with cotton candy, peanuts and candy," Ensenada resident Lily Harrison said.
Harrison said the novelty about the ship has worn off and she said she would rather have the beach than the ship.
The dredging operation is scheduled to begin Saturday.
Residents have been promised the beach will be returned to the way it was before the ship ran aground.
that is i!!!
sylens - 2-24-2006 at 10:19 AM
the (misspelled) lily in the article is your humble servant sylens/lili!! tv news camera caught me on my walk wednesday and interviewed me. i did
not think it would end up in print--thought it was video only.
there's my 15 minutes of fameBajaNews - 2-26-2006 at 04:15 PM
The 3 Shore Cranes Are working on Feb. 23 2006 -- But M/V APL Panama Is Unmoved.chino - 2-27-2006 at 10:31 PM
talked to a second generation tug captain from San Pedro today, he says that ship is in it's grave.
I remember the "star of ?? went aground in the early seventies near oxnard and created a decent surf spot for several years!surfer jim - 2-27-2006 at 10:57 PM
I knew this wreck would be good for something....a new surf spot !!...hope it will be a ....LEFT.....
An 874-foot container ship still clings to the sandy beach where it has sat since Christmas Day when it ran aground in shallow waters less than 2
miles from Ensenada's port.
By Sandra Dibble
ENSENADA, Mexico -- Over the past two months, they've pulled at its bow, drilled holes in its hull, used cranes and helicopters to lighten its load.
But the APL Panama, an 874-foot container ship, still clings to the sandy beach where it has sat since Christmas Day.
Now salvage crews are preparing a new tactic: creating a channel alongside the stranded ship with a specialized dredger vessel, the Francesco di
Giorgio.
The channel would be "as close as possible to the container ship in order to tow it via the canal to deeper waters," said Adam Van Cauwenberghe, a
regional manager in Mexico City for the Jan de Nul Group, the dredger's Belgian owners.
With the Francesco di Giorgio's arrival, salvage crews are hoping to write the final chapter of the saga that began when the APL Panama ran aground in
shallow waters 1? miles from Ensenada's port.
The ship's fate has been followed closely around the world, from factories in Mexico, to suppliers in Asia, to the vessel's owners in Germany, and to
London-based maritime insurance clubs.
Repeated attempts to move the ship off the beach with tugboats and a barge equipped with powerful hydraulic pullers have failed. The bow has been
moved 50 degrees toward open water, but not far enough to float the ship, Capt. Jose Luis Rios Hernandez, Ensenada's harbor master, said last week.
Another major pulling effort is expected Monday morning.
The ship's position, parallel to shore, has made for an especially challenging scenario, Rios said, and the vessel now has sand piled as high as 16
feet on its starboard side.
An attempt last month to blow away the sand with a giant underwater pipe failed when the pipe broke in the surf. Earlier this month, salvage teams
tried a different tack, drilling 200 small holes near the bow into the hull's starboard side, and blowing high-pressure air through them to disperse
the sand.
The latest sand-removal plans involve the dredger vessel, which is 313 feet long and is designed to operate in shallow water. As they work to remove
the sand, salvage crews also have been lightening the APL Panama's load.
Titan Maritime LLC, the Florida-based company leading the salvage efforts, has been lifting off containers with a Sikorsky Sky Crane helicopter.bajabound2005 - 3-4-2006 at 06:33 PM
Hey Ensenada and Surrounding Area --- how about an update on this? Has the dredging started? Is there any progress? Will it still be there when we
return June 1? Que pasa?
dredging has begun
sylens - 3-4-2006 at 07:26 PM
and current estimate is that it will be completed in a couple of weeks. meanwhile, most of the containers topside have been removed and they are
pulling out the ones from below deck.
really looks like a ghost ship now. eerie. but also very glad to see it may be gone soon.
if it is still here june 1, i'm fairly sure it will be a ramada or la pinta hotelbajabound2005 - 3-4-2006 at 08:34 PM
hey sylens if you are in the area..
how about some pix? current ones???Diver - 3-4-2006 at 08:39 PM
If it's still there on June 1, I win $500 ! Bruce R Leech - 3-4-2006 at 08:41 PM
good one Diver, can I get in on that
[Edited on 3-6-2006 by Bruce R Leech]sylens - 3-5-2006 at 04:50 PM
i'll try and post but i did a terrible job of reducing last time...if nena or david k agree, i'll send them a couple of full sized fotos to reduce and
post.
nena?
david k?Bruce R Leech - 3-5-2006 at 06:03 PM
cant wait to see it empty.
me too!
sylens - 3-5-2006 at 07:03 PM
and it sure looks empty now. hope three shots will show up soon, thanks to natalie ann's kind assistance.
one shows the apl panama a few days ago, looking about half unloaded.
the other two are different perspectives of her looking totally unloaded. the big crane continued removing containers from below deck. amazing how
many she held!!!!
the dredger is impressive. will try and get some fotos tomorrow. and on friday, the queen mary II came for a brief visit. all during carnaval.
party time!!!!!!!!!!David K - 3-5-2006 at 07:20 PM
Hi Sylens, please ALWAYS feel free to ask for help... What are friends for... Baja friends specially?!
Just email me the photos original size from your camera and I will reduce and either post on Nomad with credit to you or email the reduced pics back
if you want to post them... just let me know! You remember my email? info*at*vivabaja.com and put Baja photo in subject line... also if you want me to
post it, give me any caption (phot details) you want to be posted with the photo.
El gusto es mio!
PHOTO from Sylens
David K - 3-7-2006 at 07:04 PM
After some work, I got one of the photos converted to jpeg and reduced that Sylens sent me...
The caption she has for this picture is:
"almost totally offloaded except for containers below
deck"Diver - 3-7-2006 at 07:23 PM
I'm still waiting to see how they do the dredging.
Will they cover the beach with gravel and sand or will they blow sand and silt into the nearby waters ???
dredging
sylens - 3-8-2006 at 06:08 PM
is happening as we "speak." the dredger dredges as she moves. at it about one week now, they are expecting the channel 40 meters wide, 10 meters
deep and 400 meters long, parallel to the apl panama, should be completed early next week. we are hoping she'll be afloat by next wednesday.
hope hope hope.
the jetty is being dismantled, just as it was built, with a truckload of rocks at a time. all the equipment is off the beach, including the huge
crane. there is still a smaller one, visible in photo, on the ship. but nothing more is being taken off. there are still between 2 and 4 tugs
holding her steady at any given time.
ENSENADA, Baja California - When Michael Hansen of MTI Network - the leading international public relations firm for the shipping industry - came
aboard to handle press communications on the beaching of APL Panama in early January, he was adamant the 40,306-gross-ton freighter would return to
the sea.
More than two months later, Hansen, the seasoned PR man that he is, boldly continues his course.
"Rest assured that every effort is being made to refloat the ship and return the beach to its proper condition," he said last week.
But even Hansen acknowledged that problems continue for the grounded freighter. She remains in Ensenada, possibly further entrenched. This, even
though countless man hours and untold amounts of money have focused on removing the 880-foot vessel from the sands of Playa Conalep south of the Port
of Ensenada entrance.
It's estimated that 16 feet of sand has accrued on the starboard side of the ship. In fact, the fate of the freighter has become a matter of interest
and conjecture worldwide.
Mexican officials hope the recent arrival of a Belgian dredger out of Nicaragua will be the key to removing the ship from the sand.
"The dredger has been working very well and the current target is to refloat the vessel Friday (March 10)," Hansen said. "(The dredger is) cutting a
channel aimed at the bow of the vessel. The result will allow sand to loosen up, and at that point, they will back the dredger out of the way and the
tugs will begin to pull."
International trade consultants and customs broker attorneys Countryman & McDaniel refer to Panama's plight as the "2006 cargo nightmare prize
contender." Their Web site recently reported that approximately 265 gallons of fuel has leaked from the ship's fuel-contaminated ballast tanks.
"Mexico's environmental watchdog agency, known as PROFEPA, has sought court orders to arrest the vessel," the site also reported.
Hansen doesn't disagree, but said it's all part of the normal routine.
"The contaminated ballast water is not surprising since the salvage efforts put large stresses on the ship's hull and is one of the reasons the owners
have environmental cleanup crews on standby," Hansen said.
JC Environmental Co. of National City is responsible for the oil contamination cleanup. At the Mexican government's request, more than 3,000 tons of
fuel was pumped from the ship shortly after she came ashore.
And people are apparently interested in the progress of Panama, as witnessed by the number of Web sites documenting her saga.
One surprisingly popular Web site is penned by San Diego native Capt. Lonnie Ryan, author of "The 90 Day Yacht Club Guide to Ensenada." His www.truetraveler.com tallied more than 200,000 hits in February alone, many of which are reportedly from shipping and insurance companies around
the world who have containers aboard the beached freighter.
Ryan keeps his eye on Panama's progress, or lack of it. On March 5, he reported on the physical changes at Conalep Beach since the arrival of the
dredger.
"Yesterday the most outstanding changed feature of the beach surrounding the grounded APL Panama was the sand cliffs that have formed along the
immediate area inshore from the ship," Ryan wrote. "A dredge arrived at the beginning of this past week and has worked to excavate a channel offshore
from the bow of Panama in order to create a path for the ship's return to the sea and subsequently to a shipyard for repairs.
"Reportedly, this is a Belgian dredge from Nicaragua that has been hired to create this channel and remove the sand around the ship. The dredge is a
313-foot vessel, with a 69-foot sleeve that is able to remove 4,400 cubic meters per hour.
The crawler crane that was being used to remove Panama's containers was demobilized on March 5 after removing 1,292 of them (20,266 metric tons
worth). Five hundred and thirteen containers remain aboard, as does a smaller crane.
Beached since Christmas night when the ship's captain attempted to enter port before a pilot boat arrived to guide him in armed guards were put on
24-hour duty around her.BajaNews - 3-9-2006 at 05:07 PM
...The next phase has been entered, as now the rock and dirt ramp that was constructed to accommodate the container cranes is being broken down and
hauled off the beach. Local papers have written that the Ensenada port authority has decreed that the ship may not be moved off the beach until the
beach is restored to its previous natural state. So, this is the plan, to scurry and get that ramp demolished before the next full moon high tide
coming Tuesday, March 14th, the spring tide.
Notice in the photos below that the sand cliffs have gotten even higher as the dredge attempts to pull all the sand from the area around the ship?
Also notice this attempt is failing as the ship continues to sink further into the sand as the sand is dredged and taken offshore. And the waves
continue to break in the area of the bow, indicating the shallow depth of that area. As the tugs worked the puller barge today close to the shore and
the ship, I could sense a growing urgency to get this situation resolved in the next week. This is the closest I have seen these guys work their tow,
and the closest I have seen them approach the beach; the red hulled tug named Leader is itself in very shallow water and braving the wave forces that
be to perform her job valiantly this winter Ensenada morning. The dredge waited offshore as this work was performed and was not seen close to the ship
while I was there today. But last evening as the sun set she was seen moving stealthily around the bow of the Panama back and forth sweeping the area
of sand and then going out toward the sea in the bay to dump her load.
Again it must be noted that this ship continues to sink into the sand as every tide flow arrives, and as we cannot stop the tides - how does the
salvage team plan to successfully release this ship from her sandy prison? The chatter on the radio was mostly very business like today, purely
attending to orders being given by the salvage master orchestrating today?s sea drama. But in contrast, talk about crew relief coming and guys
returning to San Diego and flying to see their families back east was the human element of the day?s ship to ship VHF radio exchanges. Out there are
heard allot of southern accents indicating the body of these crews are from the Titan team?s home base in the southeast US?
