A couple of weeks ago, we discussed the incident of the Maltese chemical tanker “Sichem Osprey” running aground on the Clipperton reefs and spilling out thousands of gallons of xylene, an industrial solvent. It turns out though, we may have a retraction on our hands.
I received an email from an employee at the MTI Network, a very large crisis media management network for the shipping industry, indicating that ship’s hull was not breached and no chemicals were released. The email went on to say that the ship remains safely aground to this day, but is expected to be removed from the reef by today. International salvage company, Svitzer Salvage BV has been contracted to handle the operation. To help get the “Sichem Osprey” afloat and running again, the salvage company is using a lightering tanker to offload part of the cargo.
