The Norwegian Coastal Administration is planning an emergency tow of the LMZ Pluto today

On Tuesday 24 March, the bulk carrier LMZ Pluto was grounded in the Norwegian Sea, in an area with very demanding weather conditions. That same evening, the crew of 23 people was evacuated by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, at the request of the captain.

After the evacuation, the casualty has been without engine power around the 65th parallel, west of the Halten Bank. The company has been working on a salvage plan, while the Norwegian Coastal Administration has been monitoring the situation closely.

– As of now, the vessel poses little risk. But we have made ongoing calculations of the ship’s trajectory, and these show that the ship will drift north from Saturday towards oil installations,” says Director of Environmental Preparedness Hans Petter Mortensholm.

The VTS centre in Vardø has been following the casualty since it received a mask mandate on Tuesday.  The Norwegian Coastal Administration’s surveillance aircraft took to the skies on Wednesday to make a visual assessment of the situation. On Wednesday, the Coast Guard ship KV Jarl also set course in the direction of the casualty at the request of the Norwegian Coastal Administration. It arrived in the area on the night of Thursday 26 March.

Specially trained forces
The shipping company LMZ Shipping is responsible for the casualty and handling of the vessel, in line with international shipping regulations. The shipping company has entered into a salvage contract with the company T&T Salvage and the vessel Sea1 Ruby, and has informed that they can probably have rescue teams at the casualty on Saturday. It is still windy in the area where the ship is moored.

“To prevent LMZ Pluto from drifting towards oil installations in the area, the Norwegian Coastal Administration has planned an action where an emergency tow will be established on Friday morning,” says Mortensholm.

RITS forces (rescue efforts at sea) from the Bergen Fire Service are flown out to LMZ Pluto with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre’s SAR Queen helicopter and fired down on the casualty. The RITS team will then receive tows from the Coast Guard ship KV Jarl, which will then keep the vessel under control until the company’s salvage team takes over.

Never done before
“This is the first time we carry out such an operation with public capacities. It has involved many participants such as HRS, the Coast Guard, the Bergen Fire Department, the 330 Squadron and, not least, skilled employees of the Norwegian Coastal Administration,” says Mortensholm.

The 190-metre bulk carrier LMZ Pluto, loaded with fertiliser, was on its way from Murmansk in Russia to Santa Maria in Colombia. The ship is owned by the Greek shipping company LMZ Shipping. Fertilizer is not a sanctioned commodity and the ship is not part of the shadow fleet. The cargo is also not considered environmentally hazardous.