Kenya Ports Authority has rescued a cargo vessel after it got stuck at Kilindini channel, Mombasa county on Monday.
The MSC Eagle F vessel, drifted off the entrance canal towards Mombasa Port after an engine failure.
It had sailed to Mombasa for seven days from Port Louis in Mauritius.
KPA said the vessel was rescued by its engineers at 12pm on Tuesday after it had stalled for more than 24 hours.
The authority said the rescue averted a marine ecological disaster at the entrance of the Kilindini channel.
KPA sent three tugboats namely, Mwokozi II, Pate and Nyangumi to rescue the 23-year ship which was loaded with more than 426 containers.
“The three tugboats safely towed the ship ladened with 426 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units, which is equivalent to 9,709 metric tonnes into the Port, ending anxious moment following the grounding at 11: 35 a.m. on Monday,” KPA said.
Salvage tugboat Mwokozi II, has a bollard pull of 120 tonnes, Pate and Nyangumi have 75 and 58 tonnes of bollard pulls respectively.
The rescue mission was conducted in partnership with Southern Engineering Company, whose tugboat, Alpha Falcao stood by the MSC Eagle F overnight in case the crew required evacuation.
Andrew Mwangura, a marine expert and former official of the Seafarers Union of Kenya, told the Star on Wednesday, that investigations into the incident have begun.
“The vessel was towed to the Mtongwe area. It will also have to undergo some repair works before it is allowed to sail again,” he said.
Mwangura said the area where the vessel got stuck is near a reef.
“It would have been a disaster of oil spill if the vessel had hit a reef. The marine environment would have been affected, but we are glad everything went smoothly,” he said.
Mwangura said the navigation channel was not affected since the vessel was yet to enter Kilindini Canal channel.
MSC Eagle F has a carrying capacity of 17,451 DWT and her current draught is reported to be 9.2 metres. The vessel has a length overall of 143.15 metres and a width of 22.8 metres.
The vessel, which flies a Liberian flag, lost its engine after being cleared to sail into Kilindini channel. KPA had to send a tugboat to accompany it.
