With personnel working around the clock for the past 10 days, the TITAN Salvage team in Gibraltar managed to reduce the weight of the New Flame's stern section by 300 tons to about 2,660 tons, thereby enabling the crane barge Rambiz to lift the piece free from the water and place it aboard the barge Giant III for onward transport to a scrapping facility. The achievement is the latest in a series of major milestones, in what is believed to be the largest wreck removal operation being undertaken in the world today.
About two weeks ago, TITAN successfully cut the stern section and engine room from the No. 5 cargo hold of the sunken freighter New Flame, then lifted the 3,000-ton section - with the help of internal lift bags and pontoons fixed to the hull - from the seabed off Europa Point.
The New Flame sank following a collision while exiting the port of Gibraltar in August. The ship was loaded with over 42,000 tons of scrap metal, which was being transported from New York Harbor to Turkey for recycling.
(www.titansalvage.com)