Waldhof
The capsizing of the tanker “Waldhof”, in the Rhine River, cause huge impact. Although no environmental damage is expected, economical damage is enormous, due to restricted shipping in the Rhine River during a full month after the incident. Below, a chronological overview of the events early 2011, based on public media statements
2011, January 13th
Wednesday January 19th, as a trial, a small cargo vessel has passed the capsized tanker, which had been secured to a pontoon with steel cables. The day after, test runs continue. Only upstream traffic is allowed, because downstream shipping will pose a bigger threat to the capsized vessel, due to their higher speed and the need to deviate from their normal route, which may cause for the ships to run into unexpected currents.
Even the smallest collision of a passing ship with the Waldhof, could be a disaster as there is a possibility that explosive hydrogen gas has formed in the headspace of the cargo tanks.
On January 23rd, a second crane arrives at the wreck of the Waldhof. The two cranes start work to stabilize the ship by applying straps underneath it.
The salvors manage to stabilize the ship sufficiently to enable access to the cargo tanks on Wednesday January 26th. On the same day, the first tanks are tapped, to sample the fluids inside. As this action can cause explosion danger, shipping is restricted again.
Explosion danger has passed on February 1st as the responders succeed to fill the headspace of all cargo tanks with nitrogen gas to suppress the potential hydrogen gas.
February 2nd, 16 ships are allowed to pass the tanker. As these test runs caused no further problems, regulated traffic is allowed downstream. After a few days, upstream and downstream traffic is alternated.
During the weekend of February 5 & 6, the largest portion of the acid was pumped from the cargo tanks, until the ship becomes unstable. The changes in weight, have caused the ship to move, a situation that could cause great danger to the salvors and nearby residents, as uncontrolled release of sulphuric acid could be caused by breakage of on of the holds.
On February 7th decision was made to release the remaining 1.000 tons of sulphuric acid into the Rhine river, a process that was expected to last 2.5 days.
Due to the regulated traffic along the tanker, the queue of ships has reportedly resolved on February 8th.
After the cargo was removed, the ship’s tanks were filled with water and on February 13th, the ship could be moved to the Loreley harbour. Leaving the Rhine river free for shipping on Februari 14th 2011.
