Romania’s marine services firm Gruup Servici Petoliere (GSP) has righted the Palau-registered livestock carrier Queen Hind that capsized in the Black sea off Romania’s Port of Midia last November. Although the ship’s entire crew was rescued, only 180 of the estimated 14,000 sheep on board survived. The carcasses of these dead animals are now having to be removed from the hull.
To undertake salvage of the ship GSP brought in the floating crane GSP Neptun, the largest unit of its type stationed in the Black Sea, which has a lifting capacity of 1,800 tons.
Romania has been the European Union’s leading exporter of live sheep to the Middle East and its Agriculture Ministry and Transport Ministry are now both involved in an investigation to determine why the ship capsized, particularly after salvage divers discovered that it had more animal decks than its design plan indicated.
