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(Houston, TX---) The first piece of steel recovered from
the wreck of the Prestige appears to soundly refute
allegations made by the Spanish government that the vessel
was in poor structural condition.
The steel was recovered by a Spanish expedition that used
remotely controlled underwater vehicles (ROVs) to cut and
retrieve a section of hull plating from the starboard side
of the vessel. As reported in the Spanish press, ABS has learned
that thickness measurements taken on board the recovery craft
confirmed that the material met class rule requirements. The
plate, now in the custody of the court in Corcubion, had a
minimum thickness at least equivalent to the design scantling
of 20.5mm.
As reported, the sample also appeared to confirm that the
interior coating of the plate was in good condition and that
the plate had been subject to only mild exterior pitting from
corrosion. ABS has also learned that extensive close-up video
footage of the vessel has been taken by the ROVs and also
appears to confirm that the plating thickness and condition
were adequate.
“This evidence strongly refutes the continuing public
allegations that have been made regarding the condition of
the Prestige at the time of the casualty,”
said ABS spokesman and vice president Stewart Wade.
The most recent allegations stem from Spanish press reports
of a fax, purported to have been sent to ABS by the temporary
relief master of the Prestige in August of 2002.
This fax has only just been made public, a full year after
the casualty.
The fax is reported to enumerate various mechanical and structural
defects. “ABS has conducted an extensive electronic
search of all fax transmissions received at that time and
has no record of having received the alleged communication
from the master,” said Wade. He also pointed out that
the confirmation message reproduced in the Spanish press,
purporting to show the message had been received by ABS, carries
a telephone number in Greece associated with the owner of
the vessel.
The published reproduction also indicates that the message
was addressed to a then defunct commercial affiliate of ABS,
not to the class society.
“Such a fax, direct to the class society by either
the master or the owner would be very unusual,” Wade
added. “Not only would it have elicited an immediate
response, but a printout of the fax would have been inserted
into the vessel’s survey correspondence file.”
ABS undertook an exhaustive search of the entire record of
the Prestige immediately after the casualty and no
such fax was found. The files were further investigated as
part of the IACS ad hoc audit, to which the Spanish government
was invited, but declined to send an observer.
The list of alleged deficiencies refer to items that were
subject to extensive survey and renewal as part of the vessel’s
fifth special survey in China in 2001. “The records
of that survey have been subject to intense independent scrutiny
and no such shortcomings have been identified,” said
Wade.
The alleged presence of cracks in the Number 3 port cargo/ballast
tank are of particular interest since this space was subject
to extensive steel renewals at the special survey including
the replacement of a substantial portion of the transverse
bulkheads, repair and renewal of wasted sections of the longitudinal
bulkhead, the renewal of sections of shell plating and renewal
of corroded and damaged sections of the transverse web frames
and plates.
“None of the evidence available to us, from the sample
cut from the hull to the evidence relating to the surveys
undertaken on the vessel, gives any credence to these most
recent allegations,” said Wade.
“In fact, if the alleged cracks were present, this
would further substantiate the ABS claim that the vessel suffered
a weakening of the hull structure as a consequence of the
extensive lightering activities in which it was engaged in
St Petersburg at the time this message was apparently sent
to the owner of the Prestige,” Wade added.
Founded in 1862, ABS is a leading international classification
society devoted to promoting the security of life, property
and the marine environment through the development and verification
of standards for the design, construction and operational
maintenance of marine-related facilities.
(Note to Editors: ABS has posted and maintained an extensive
dossier of information relating to the Prestige casualty
on its web site www.eagle.org including a detailed technical
analysis. The Prestige Casualty Information section is located
within the ABS Newsroom at: http://www.eagle.org/news/press/prestige/
)
For
more information, contact:
Stewart Wade
ABS Corporate Communications
1-281-877-5850
or swade@eagle.org
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