Hoegh Autoliners says its giant Osaka carship is on the move and could even arrive back in the Port of Southampton by 17:00 local today (22 January).
The Hoegh Osaka has been heeled over at 52° for almost three weeks with the fate of its 1,400 Jaguar Land Rovers, JCBs, Minis and one Rolls-Royce Wraith unknown, but has now rapidly righted to just 5° of angle following 3,000t of water being pumped out by salvers, Svitzer.
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Intense scrutiny will now fall on the condition of the ship’s cargo, with BMW outlining it had 65 Minis worth around US$2m, with JCB noting its 105 machines were worth “millions.” The Wraith is bespoke, but could be worth in the region of GBP240,000 (US$362,000).
JLR is declining to reveal the nature of its cars, many of which could have been bound for the vessel’s many Middle East destinations such as Oman, Dubai, Kuwait and Bahrain.
“It could be [arrival] as early as 17:00,” a Hoegh Autoliners spokesman told just-auto. “They will be looking to establish either ladders or gangways…then they will be looking to put a small number of crew on board.
“At the moment the focus is on the vessel – they were looking to bring it in at 4kts, but [the] last report, it was going a bit quicker than expected.”
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By GlobalDataThere is currently a Restricted Airspace (Temporary) (RAT) placed one mile either side of the navigation route into Southampton and up to 2,000ft.
An exclusion zone is also around the vessel itself of 1,000 metres ahead and behind and 100 metres either side.
The Hoegh Osaka has been moving at anchor as huge storms have battered the south coast of England during the last week, forcing Svitzer to temporarily abandon its attempts to board using either a tug or helicopter.
Once inside, the severe list saw roping teams move around the semi-dark ship to pump out the thousands of tonnes of water caused by moving machinery cracking the vessel’s side.
