PacTow salvage team removes vessel

PACIFIC Towing (PacTow) has removed a vessel that ran aground in front of the Apec Haus, Port Moresby, last week.
PacTow general manager Neil Papenfus said the aging vessel, a former New Zealand navy patrol boat Hawea could have caused much damage.
Papenfus said it was understood that the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) was in the process of identifying the vessel’s owners.
“PacTow plans on disposing the vessel if the owners can’t be located and the relevant authorities provide them with instruction to do so,” he said.
“The PacTow salvage team expertly manoeuvred the leaking vessel off the rocks it was lodged on, then towed it back to its dedicated tug base at Motukea.
“The vessel was in imminent risk of breaking up, the divers quickly assessed the integrity of the Hawea’s hull and bollards for towing.”
Papenfus said a thorough inspection by PacTow marine engineers discovered that the aging vessel was in a poor condition with multiple leaks.
The vessel’s intake of water was currently mitigated by around-the-clock mechanical pumping.
Papenfus said PacTow had performed more than 50 salvages in the region.