Feb 2 UPDATE: The ship was towed to Rotterdam in the afternoon Feb 1, without any other mishaps. Captain and a senior officer (Chief officer? Chief engineer?) were meanwhile, detained by Dutch authorities for investigation, suspects in leaving the ship without substantial reason – justified accusation considering ship’s condition and movements after abandonment. It would be interesting to know nationalities of the crew – it’s not a secret in industry, that some nationalities are more prone to panic and unjustified abandonment of still seaworthy, still salvable ships, than others.
Feb 1 0530 UTC UPDATE: JULIETTA D is under tow of OSV SOVEREIGN (IMO 9262742) with assisting tug MULTRATUG 18, port of destination so far, unknown. Convoy is proceeding in southern direction, weather is toning down, so hopefully, worst is behind.
Jan 31 1705 UTC UPDATE: As of 1700 UTC, JULIETTA D was still adrift, with AIS still online. She seems to be on even keel with indeed, no signs of imminent sinking. JULIETTA D while adrift, already contacted wind farm grid transformers platform, and her hull was breached one more time. Wind farm platform regretfully, wasn’t destroyed. Salvage is hampered by extreme weather, making unmanned ship towage impossible.
Hierbij een indruk van hoe de evacuatie van de bemanningsleden van het stuurloze schip ging. Hierbij werden meerdere SAR-helikopters @NhvHelicopters en 1 helikopter vd Belgische Kustwacht @agentschapMDK ingezet. pic.twitter.com/2OyFsvAq0H
— Kustwacht Nederland (@Kustwacht_nl) January 31, 2022
Tanker PECHORA STAR collided with bulk carrier JULIETTA D at Ijmuiden outer anchorage, North sea, understood early in the morning Jan 31. JULIETTA D seemed to be at anchor at the time of collision, she was breached in engine room area with mass water ingress, and according to Dutch media, citing officials, all JULIETTA D crew were evacuated by helicopters, in very challenging conditions of full-scale storm. JULIETTA D is said to be abandoned, drifting, but her AIS, as of 1200 UTC, was on. She’s to be taken on tow. MB was tipped off on this accident by salvage_and_wreck https://www.instagram.com/salvage_and_wreck/
Bulk carrier JULIETTA D, IMO 9590618, dwt 37200, built 2013, flag Malta, manager ALLIANCE MARITIME, Netherlands (EQUASIS).
Product tanker PECHORA STAR, IMO 9488322, dwt 13021, built 2011, flag Malta, manager CST SCHIFFFAHRTS GMBH & CO KG.
