Dubai: Dubai Municipality is undertaking a three-day mammoth operation to recover two sunken cargo vessels from Dubai Creek.
The operation involves close coordination with the Maritime Rescue Department of Dubai Police, the Civil Defence Department and private sector specialists.
The vessels, in different locations, went down three to four years ago at their docking stations along the Creek, said Yaqub Al Ali, head of the specialised cleaning section at the municipality’s waste management department.
One had caught fire and the other fell into disrepair after its crew left the UAE following a court case involving their vessel. The lighter vessel weighs roughly 50 tonnes while the other weighs more than 100 tonnes, officials have estimated. Authorities deployed a 400-tonne crane after a 50-tonne crane struggled to lift the vessels, Al Ali added.
The vessels were submerged in waters three to six metres deep, depending on tide conditions. They were partially jutting out of the water and had been hindering the free flow of boats in the vicinity, besides taking up berthing space.
“It was dangerous to sail in the area,” Al Ali said. One boat sank near the Twin Towers on the Creek while the other went under at the jetty near the Dubai Chamber building.
One of them has been lifted out but had broken apart during the operation, sending chunks back into the water, which are being salvaged.
The wreckage will be loaded onto a floating platform. The wood will be sent to the landfill and the metal will be scrapped, Al Ali said.
“There’s a lot of water in the vessels and one of them is full of cargo. They were so wet, they broke easily when we tried to lift them,” he added.
In 2014, another boat sank in Al Jaddaf, which has already been recovered, Al Ali said.
“Whenever there’s a case like this, we have it cleaned up.”
He added that there are no other cases of boats lying at the bottom of the Creek.
Abdul Majeed Saifaie, director of the municipality’s Waste Management Department, said the operation, spanning three days, was handled efficiently and helped improve the Creek’s environment.
Saifaie lauded all the personnel involved in the operation, with a “badge of excellence” conferred on some “outstanding employees”.
