NYK to Send 110 Workers to Help with Clean-up after Wood-chip Carrier Breaks Apart off Japan

Japanese shipping firm NYK plans to send 110 employees in total by September 11 to help with the clean-up at the area where the NYK-chartered Crimson Polaris wood-chip carrier ran aground earlier this month, dropping cargo and spilling oil into the sea as the hull of the vessel split in two.

NYK said Tuesday it would make a total of 11 dispatches of 10 employees each by September 11 to assist with the area clean-up.

"As the charterer of the vessel, NYK has sent company personnel to the site to assist with the clean-up of the cargo and other debris that has washed ashore. Under the guidance of the Maritime Disaster Prevention Center, we have been cleaning up the coast of Rokkasho village in Aomori prefecture," the company said, sharing photos of the staff cleaning up the coast.

Credit: NYK"By August 23, we had completed three dispatches of 10 employees each for two days and one night, and we will conduct eight more dispatches of the same number of employees for the same duration. To prevent the spread of the COVID-19, NYK workers will be taking appropriate infection-control measures and work under the guidance of the cleaning contractor," NYK said.

NYK further said it has organized a crisis management center led by NYK president Hitoshi Nagasawa to "rapidly" address the situation.

"Company personnel have been sent to the site, and necessary support will be provided to the shipowner and ship-management company. We hope the situation will be brought to a safe and timely conclusion," the company said.

The Crimson Polaris wood-chip carrier that ran aground and split up off Japan Thursday, spilling oil into the ocean, carried about 1,550 MT of heavy oil and about 130 MT of diesel oil for fuel at the time of the grounding, NYK, the charterer of the ship, said Friday.

The 199.9-meter vessel, chartered by NYK from MI-DAS Line ran aground off Hachinohe on August 11. On August 12 at 4:15 a.m. the vessel’s hull split into two pieces and began spilling oil. The ship had about 1,550 MT of heavy oil and about 130 MT of diesel oil for fuel at the time of the incident. It is not clear how much oil has been spilled into the ocean.

On Sunday, the Japanese Coast Guard said it had sent a crew via helicopter to the bow of the vessel to investigate the hull, and said that no new oil spill was observed.

Credit: Japanese Coast Guard (Image published earlier in August)