Click for photos of the stranded APL Panama
STUCK SOUTH OF THE BORDER -- Here is one time when it isn't such a joy to spend the holidays on a Mexican beach. What began on Christmas Day as a routine port call to Mexico by the container ship APL Panama has turned into nearly a month spent grounded on a beach outside Ensenada. As you read coverage of efforts to free the vessel, it poses the simple question: "Is it worth the risk to go south?"
From the San Diego Union-TribuneJanuary 14, 2006
Tugboats Can't Pull Cargo Ship Stuck Off Ensenada By Sandra Dibble - Union-Tribune
Ensenada – A container ship and its cargo remained stranded in the surf south of the harbor yesterday, despite major efforts by a half-dozen tugboats over the past four days to pull its bow away from shore.
Salvage workers are hoping for greater success next week with powerful hydraulic pulling machines that are being sent from the United States, according to the owners of the 880-foot APL Panama, who were reached by telephone in Bremen, Germany.
"As soon as they are on the scene, we should be able to move the ship," said Jens Meier-Hedde, managing director of Mare Britannicum Schiffahrtsgesellschaft MBH & Co., which owns the ship.
The APL Panama became grounded Dec. 25 as it prepared to enter the port of Ensenada. It was on a regularly scheduled trans-Pacific route that led from Oakland to Mexico, then Japan, Taiwan and China. Pushed by surf and hemmed in by sand, the vessel had become increasingly stuck.
This week, workers from Titan Maritime LLC, a Florida company specializing in marine salvage, made a major push to float the vessel, taking advantage of lunar high tides.
The challenge has been daunting. The vessel, which weighs about 15,000 tons, is carrying nearly 30,000 tons of cargo, Meier-Hedde said.
Seven tugboats pulling at full force yesterday morning – a combined capacity of more than 40,000 horsepower – moved the bow a few more yards away from shore, and they are expected to repeat their efforts today.
"The principle is that very slowly, as she rolls, each time she displaces sand, the tugs pull, the ship is moved so it occupies that space," said Michael Mallin, an attorney for Titan and its parent company, Crowley Maritime Corp.
The massive effort that began Tuesday has been partially successful. The bow has moved 20 degrees away from shore, about a fifth of the way that is needed to pull it toward open water, Meier-Hedde said.
The salvage crews hoped that the tugboats would be able to do the job. But hydraulic pullers are being brought down on a special barge that was sent from Seattle. The barge, 400 feet long and 100 feet wide, is at R.E. Staite Engineering marine contractors in National City, where workers have been preparing to send it to Ensenada.
In Ensenada, government officials have followed the salvage efforts closely. The city's commercial port has seen its business rise by 75 percent over the past year, and officials say it has been unaffected by the incident.
Yesterday, a top official from Mexico's Communications and Transportation Ministry, the director of its Merchant Marine division, was expected to arrive in Ensenada. He was to partake in the daily meeting at the Ensenada harbor master's office that includes representatives of the salvage company, the shippers and various government agencies.
Concerned about a possible spill, officials ordered all fuel removed from the APL Panama. Salvage workers complied this week, removing some 3,000 tons, said Ensenada's harbor master, Capt. José Luis Rios Hernández.
From KFMB-8 (CBS affiliate) text and video
January 11, 2006
Attempt To Free Stuck Cargo Ship Fails Miserably
It's huge, it's heavy and attracting a wave of stares. It looks like an Oakland container ship stuck off a Mexican beach since Christmas Day won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
The ship was en route to Asia when strong currents apparently pulled it into shallow waters while entering the Port of Ensenada.
Even when you see it, it's still hard to believe. The Panama stuck in the sand 100 feet offshore south of Ensenada.
Tourists are now riding on horseback, and the locals look on and laugh.
"You know nobody's ever seen anything like that," one man said.
But you can certainly see it now, and will probably have the opportunity for weeks. The 880-foot cargo ship is going nowhere fast.
Salvage crews' first plan – to have tug-boats pull the ship during astronomical high tides this week – hasn't worked. Freight helicopters are pulling some of the cargo off, but unloading the more than 900 containers would be extremely dangerous – and time consuming.
A final plan includes using the tugboats combined with powerful pullers to nudge the ship, but with so much sand building up on the other side, many are skeptical that will work.
The crew of 25 wasn't hurt when the ship hit the sand, and those on board are being ferried off the Panama daily for breaks, but they are way behind schedule. By now the boat was supposed to be well on its way to Asia.
If you're wondering how the Panama got stuck in the first place, there are a couple of different stories circulating. One is the captain became impatient waiting for a guise and tried to do it alone and ended up in the sand. The other is that he was waiting, but strong waves pushed him off course.
From KGTV-10 (ABC affiliate)
January 3, 2006
Stuck Ship Gets Waves Of Stares
Ship Drifts To Ensenada, Stuck On Beach
ENSENADA, Mexico -- All of sudden, the city of Ensenada has gained a huge tourist attraction -- a container ship that's stuck on the beach.
As you drive into Ensenada, it's hard to miss the ship.
The waves pound it and tug boats try to keep it from drifting any further.
"It's really weird -- I've been to the beach all my life (and have) never seen a boat out on the beach. It's like a city out there," said tourist Mark Flooten.
Up close, the freighter, which is almost 900 feet long, is an impressive site.
The ship ran aground a week ago Sunday.
Its parent company has said the Panama drifted as it waited for a harbor captain to guide it into Ensenada harbor, where it was to pick up electronic equipment bound for the Far East.
Meantime, the ship is creating booming business for people selling everything from corn to candy on the beach.
The longer it sits there, the more business opportunities there will be as more and more people show up to stare at it.
"The more (time) it takes, the tougher it's going to be to get it out, definitely," said ship visitor Emilio Hoyos.
The first step in getting the ship out is to build a temporary road.
The road will be used by trucks that will pump the ship's fuel out, in hopes to make it lighter.
Special tug boats will be brought in from Seattle to pull the freighter away from the surf.
The tug boats from Seattle are expected to be in place by the end of the week.
Once the fuel is unloaded, they'll give it a go.
If it fails to free the ship, other equipment will be brought in from Louisiana, but that will take at least six weeks.
From the San Diego Union-TribuneDecember 29, 2005
Container ship still stuck on sand bar off Ensenada
ENSENADA, Mex. – A private U.S. company was working Thursday to rescue a container ship that has been hung up on a beach off Mexico's northern Pacific coast since Christmas Day, a Mexican port captain confirmed.
The Antigua & Barbuda-registered barge, bearing the name APL Panama and originating in Oakland, was preparing to enter the Mexican port of Ensenada on Dec. 25 when it became stuck about 1.5 miles south of its destination, port Capt. Jose Luis Rios Hernandez told The Associated Press by telephone.
Mexican officials hired a U.S company specializing in marine salvage operations to rescue the ship, but so far the company has had no luck, Hernandez said.
The captain added that he believed it might take as much as a month to free the ship's hull and propellers from the sand. The 850-foot-long ship was carrying about 35,000 tons of cargo, Rios said.
Officials had not determined the cause of the mishap and the captain of the ship had not yet given a statement, he said.
From the San Diego Union-TribuneDecember 28, 2005
Tugboats work on container ship stuck off Ensenada
By Sandra DibbleUNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
A container vessel on a trans-Pacific route that ran aground Christmas Day outside Ensenada was expected to continue its journey after tugboats worked yesterday to pull it off a shallow sandy bottom near shore.
The Panama, chartered by the global container transportation company APL, had left Oakland and ran aground as it prepared to enter the city's harbor before continuing on to other stops in Mexico and Asia.
An official with Ensenada's port said the crew apparently failed to follow port rules and seek pilot service before entering the port's access channel.
"The first reports mention that the captain didn't follow those basic rules," said Juan Carlos Ochoa, marketing director for the port of Ensenada. "There's a specific point where the pilots of the port go and take the ship, but they didn't stop at that point."
None of the 25 crew members was injured, Ochoa said, and the vessel did not appear seriously damaged. Officials found no fuel leaks or anything else that might harm the environment.
APL's parent company is the Singapore-based NOL group. The Panama is one of six container vessels that follow a route from Oakland to Japan, Taiwan and China. APL schedules a stop in Ensenada each Sunday.
The Panama is carrying 900 containers, Ochoa said. It measures 885 feet and has a draft of 36 feet and weighs 40,000 tons, he said.
Jennifer Bronson, a spokeswoman for APL at the company's Oakland offices, said the containers typically carry electronic components related to the maquiladora industry.
Two 500-horsepower tugboats were sent from the port of Los Angeles and Bronson said the vessel was expected to be freed late yesterday.
"We anticipate the tugs will come and tug it off the sandy bottom and the ship will proceed to Ensenada," he said.
Ochoa, the port official, said the vessel, stranded some 300 feet offshore, became something of a curiosity as residents went to photograph and stare.
"It's like a big whale with boxes," he said.
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