Automakers involved with the salvage of 1,400 vehicles in the Hoegh Osaka are “anxious” to discover the fate of their models in the formerly stricken ship, which has now moored alongside berth 101 in the Port of Southampton says the vessel owner.

Neither BMW nor Jaguar Land Rover were immediately available for comment on the state of their cars after almost three weeks listing at 52° in Southampton Water and as 3,000t of sea water poured in following moving machinery cracking the side of the ship.

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Only JCB, which has 105 of its vehicles on board the 51,000t vessel, could confirm: “Next week we are hoping to get on board to assess the condition of the cargo,” some of which, along with the cars was bound for Germany and Middle East destinations such as Dubai and Oman.

“The cargo interests have been anxious to find what can be done to get their cargo to its final destination and we are glad we can help with business continuity,” said Hoegh Osaka owners, Hoegh Autoliners commercial director, Oyvind Ervik.

“The cause of the accident is under investigation by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) and we are fully co-operating. We are aware of the Cougar Ace incident [Mazda scrapped 4,700 vehicles after a carship almost capsized in 2006], but we are not of course privy to the thinking behind [the] decision to recycle all those cars.

“It is too early to say [cargo state] – we are now making the first assessment on the main deck.”

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Hoegh Autoliners also reserved particular praise for Salvers, Svitzer: “They have done a great job,” whose 17-strong crew worked in particularly challenging conditions including storms and having to be roped around the ship in semi-darkness to pump out the 3,000t of ingressed water.

The British government appointed Hugh Shaw as its Secretary of State Representative (SOSREP) for Salvage and Maritime Intervention and he hailed the Hoegh Osaka crew, which had reboarded “in extremly difficult cicrcumstances” to ensure safe passage of the vessel back into the UK’s busiest automotive port.

“We have got a ship that is dead, apart from some small portable power packs,” said Shaw. “It [was] probably freezing, there is very little lighting, no catering.”

The Hoegh Autoliners commercial director added the shipper was aware some cargo had moved on the main deck and may require specialised equipment to remove it.

“Probably early next week, but that is a very, very rough estimate,” said Ervik.