Azerbaijan, Baku, 10 October / Trend corr. E.Ismayilov/Georgian and Azerbaijani specialists pump fuel from the Ukrainian Skadovsk ship that sank in a storm near the Kulevi oil terminal, belonging SOCAR, in October, a source in a terminal said.
"Several tons of fuel has already been pumped. There were 25,000-30,000 tons of fuels on the board. The pumping process will take four or five months," a source said.
Pumping is being carried out with help of the pump given by Azerbaijani terminal. Earlier, special booms are installed to prevent fuel spilling.
Ukraine took responsibility for the catastrophe and its consequences. Ukraine seeks for specialists in Odessa, who will cut the ship and lift it from the bottom of the sea. Skadovsk was damaged and cannot be repaired again. The process will take about two or three months. The work is becoming complicated due to lack of necessary equipment in Georgia, a source said.
The bodies of the captain and crewman were found as a result of the operation. The body of another seaman has not been found so far. Perhaps, seaman's body will be found after the ship is cut. Totally three men died. A total of 28 out of 31 people abroad were rescued.
The ship turned over on 4 October at 5.00am, Georgian time, as a result of a storm (6-7 points). On 30 September, the vessel was beached and got a hole. Specialists from Ukraine arrived and decided to get the ship off through haulage. The ship turned over during the haulage.
The accident did not affect the operation of the terminal. There is no obstacle for vessels to enter the port. Loading is not being implemented at the moment, as there is no order. Dredging operations were carried out in the port to enable large ships to enter the port.
The SOCAR-owned Kulevi terminal can simultaneously accept up to 168 cistern carriages. Transhipment capacity of the terminal will total 10mln fluid cargo per year, including 3mln tons of oil, 3mln tons of diesel fuel, 4mln tons of fuel oil. The tank batteryїs capacity totals 320,000 cu m. There are plans to increase the transhipment capacity of the terminal up to 20mln tons and the tank battery up to 380,000 cu m.
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