Container recovery from Mercosul Line ship in collision advances

The recovery of some 1,500 containers from the Mercosul Santos that was headed to the jungle city port of Manaus moved a step closer after divers located the tugboat that collided with the ship. There has been no sign of nine of the 11 crew members on the Transportes Bertolini-operated tug Bertolini CXX that was hauling barges of grain when the it was struck by the Santos, and they are feared drowned. The two other crew members were pulled from the water shortly after the accident at 4:40 a.m. local time Wednesday. “Our immediate concern is for the missing crew members,” said a Mercosul spokesman. “Local authorities are conducting an investigation into what happened and we will continue to liaise and collaborate with authorities in this regard.” The ship “was nearly full on the last leg of her northbound route heading to Manaus with a crew of 20, plus three cadets, when the collision occurred,” he said. The ship was loaded with personal care goods, rice, construction materials, and frozen protein. On its backhaul on Mercosul’s Sling 1 service, it would have carried electronic goods, plastics and wood to the south of Brazil. “There has been no blocking of the shipping lane as the Mercosul Santos is safely anchored, allowing other vessels to transit through the shipping lane.” The Manaus Santos, with its capacity of 2,500 TEU, has 268 reefer plugs, meaning more than 500 TEU could be full of chilled and frozen produce.