The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Shipping Corporation’s only operational vessel, the Tarmelu (formerly the Kwai), sank on Saturday after being blown off its mooring at Uliga Dock in Majuro. The incident occurred during a westerly storm that also battered the capital last weekend. According to Shipping Corporation General Manager Danny Wase, the Tarmelu was uncrewed when the storm struck. The vessel was pulled from the reef and dragged a few hundred meters from Uliga Dock, but it ultimately sank in about 100 feet of water. Wase said hull damage from striking the reef caused the sinking, and that copra cargo had been transferred to another ship before the incident. Members of the Nitijela (the RMI parliament) raised concerns about the safety of the copra and whether it had been secured. After the sinking, a couple of life rafts were found floating near the wreck, likely having freed themselves. RMI Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials placed a boom around the wreck site to contain any potential fuel release. Monitoring by the EPA detected an oil sheen on the water surface. The Tarmelu was purchased by the RMI in 2021 and renamed from the Kwai. Built in Germany in 1950 and retrofitted with sails in 2005, the vessel had been a regular service provider for the outer islands, transporting passengers and copra. Shipping Corporation officials noted that the Kwai had previously helped promote low‑carbon transport by using sails when conditions allowed. At a Nitijela session earlier this week, President Hilda Heine and Foreign Minister Kalani Kaneko discussed with Japanese government officials the possibility of funding two new vessels for the RMI. Japan had previously supplied the RMI with the diesel‑powered MV Majuro and MV Kwajalein in the mid‑2010s. President Heine did not specify the types of vessels requested. A former crew member of the Kwai, Leslie Cook, posted on social media that all crew were safe and that the ship had been uncrewed when it sank. Cook reflected on the vessel’s long service history, noting its voyages from Amsterdam to Hawaii and its role in hauling plastic out of the Pacific Gyre.
Article source: The Marshall Islands Journal | Image credit: The Marshall Islands Journal