Bad weather hampers ship salvage

Giant floating cranes were used to life sections of the ship

Four remaining sections of the freight ship which sank in the English Channel nearly a year ago may have to stay in the sea for another six months because of bad weather.

A salvage team has spent three months slicing up the 190 metre long Tricolor which was carrying about 3,000 luxury cars when it sank.

The first five sections of the vessel were taken ashore during the summer but now four massive pieces of the ship are to remain submerged about 30 miles east of Ramsgate, Kent.

It was hoped two floating cranes would be able to lift the final sections on to a barge which would then ship them to the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium.

The salvage of the Tricolor will continue once there are weather forecasts indicating an extended period of favourable conditions Spokesman for salvage firm, Smit

But a spokesman for Dutch company Smit, one of the firms involved in the salvage operation, said a period of good weather was needed to allow the task to be completed.

He said: "In the past 21 days storms and high seas have hampered the wreck removal operation.

"The salvage of the Tricolor will continue once there are weather forecasts indicating an extended period of favourable conditions."

From past weather statistics it could take until April or May for the operation to resume, he said.

The wreck had been a major hazard

Originally it was hoped the Norwegian-owned ship would be lifted out of the water by September.

News of the delay may worry environmentalists who are concerned the ship will fall apart and pollute the sea.

The Smit spokesman said about 1.5% of the original amount of oil was still contained within the wreck and could not be recovered until the operation resumed.

A lot of the ship's cargo was still inside but some of the cars were scattered on the seabed, but these would be removed when the last four sections were recovered.

The Tricolor sank after colliding with a container ship in thick fog in December last year.

Two other ships then collided with the wreck as did a salvage tug.