WORK IS due to commence imminently on the removal of the Albanian owned ship which ran aground in Paphos during stormy weather last month.
According to Yiannis Efstratiou, a senior marine surveyor and head of the environmental protection division of the state’s Department of Merchant Shipping, a proposal relating to the removal of the EDRO III, is currently being considered by the council of ministers.
“I am not aware of any decision on the matter yet,” he said yesterday, noting, “We are expecting a decision on the matter early next week.”
The Albanian-owned cargo vessel, built in the late 1960’s,was leaving Limassol port in early December, bound for Rhodes. It encountered mechanical problems during bad weather, and was forced onto rocks off the coast of Paphos, where it has remained stranded ever since.
According to officials, the Sierra Leone- flagged vessel is not posing an immediate threat to the environment.
Efstratiou said: “We are currently negotiating with the ship’s owners and their insurance company. Any possible pollutants need to be removed. In this case, bunker fuels are diesel oil, which is not a major threat to the environment. The degree of potential environmental damage would be far greater if the ship was carrying heavy fuel.”
Efstratiou pointed out that it is usual in such instances for the ship’s insurers to process the vessel’s removal, adding that it would ‘become far more complicated if the state had to take its own measures.’
“We hope to find a solution with the insurance company- if it’s left to the state to remove the ship a number of procedures will have to be followed.” This would include putting the project to tender.
The ship weighs about 2,345 tonnes and is over 80 metres in length.
The EDRO III is stranded 15 metres from shore in Paphos’ Sea Caves area, and has fast become a local tourist attraction.
According to Peyia police, the captain remains on board alone and will remain on board until a decision on the ship’s fate is taken.
No-one was hurt during the incident in December, but the crew had to be airlifted to safety by a police helicopter.
Sources close to the incident have led the Cyprus Mail to believe that the procedure to remove the ship is being held up by the vessel’s Russian insurance company.
