The owners of a dredger, which has been stranded off Lamma Island all year, have been ordered to expedite their salvage plan after failing to remove the vessel by a previous deadline set for April.
The 50-year-old Sea Diamond, a dilapidated cutter suction dredger, remains partly submerged off Ha Mei Wan, a rural Lamma Island beach.
A Marine Department (MD) spokesperson said on Thursday that it had been in touch with the owners, who “had previously attempted to refloat the vessel by removing the superstructure and pumping out water from the flooded compartments in a bid to remove the vessel.”
“However, the progress has been delayed due to heavy rainfall from time to time in recent weeks. In addition, the damage to its hull was found to be more severe than anticipated, which has complicated the salvage operation. The MD is urging the shipowner to expedite the salvage process and remove the vessel as soon as possible,” the spokesperson added.
Dredgers are used as underwater excavators, cutting and sucking up material from the seabed before discharging it via pipelines.
The ageing Sea Diamond was built in Singapore in 1976. It is unclear who the current owner is.
The department said the owners had already breached the Shipping and Port Control Ordinance, risking a HK$10,000 fine, after they failed to report the incident within 24 hours. Legal proceedings are ongoing.
The MD said there were no reports of oil leaks or hazardous materials seeping into the ocean. However, “the shipowner deployed an oil containment boom around the vessel as a precautionary measure as requested” by the department.
According to Hong Kong’s Shipping and Port Control Ordinance, if stricken vessels are not removed by the owner, the Marine Department will make arrangements and recover costs from the owner.
HKFP has reached out to Islands District Councillor Lau Shun-ting for comment.
