News & Views
Luxury cars worth £30 million have been saved from the huge stricken car transporter ship, Hoegh Osaka.
Amongst the 1,400 vehicles to be driven off the 51,000 tonne Singapore-registered vessel were brand new Range Rovers, with Jaguars and a £260,000 Rolls-Royce Wraith also on board.
The ship, now safely moored back at Southampton Docks in Hampshire, had been stranded in The Solent for almost for three weeks, where she was deliberately grounded on a sandbank when a 52 degree list developed.
All of the cargo, which includes the cars and other equipment, will be taken off the ship by the end of this week or early next week, according to Hoegh Autoliners.
According to sources, a spokesman for Hoegh Autoliners’ Navigate Response said: “There is only limited damage to the cargo… water damage only occurred on the lowest deck and on the one side the ship was listing.”
It is not yet known which vehicles were damaged by the sea water inside the ship. Those which are damaged or do not start up will be towed off the ship. A full assessment of damage and the loss is underway by loss adjustors.
Phil Chesney, Divisional Managing Director of LONMAR’s Marine Division, commented: “despite the high profile nature of this loss, it is unlikely to have a direct impact on Cargo market rates.”
A spokesman for Hoegh Autoliners’ Navigate Response confirmed: ‘There is only limited damage to the cargo”. The vessel, which was heading to the Middle East, was run aground by its pilot as it began to list badly just 45 minutes after leaving the port of Southampton on January 3.