TOWAGE operator Svitzer has confirmed it last week activated one of its tugs to assist bitumen tanker White Sky on its transit to Brisbane’s Moreton Bay.

The confirmation follows initial reports the 102-metre length-overall tanker had issued an emergency call last week while in transit to Brisbane.

Speaking to DCN, a Svitzer spokesperson confirmed it was activated to assist White Sky last Thursday evening (12 September), as part of the emergency towage support it provides to AMSA along the Australian coastline.

The spokesperson stated that Svitzer’s ETV Level 2 tug Clontarf assisted the vessel from a position 55 nautical miles north east of K’Gari’s (formerly Fraser Island) Sandy Cape, back to anchorage in Moreton Bay on Sunday afternoon (15 September).

Svitzer’s statement did not explicitly address why transit from the position off Fraser Island to the Moreton Bay anchorage took more than two days to complete, but the spokesperson did make mention of rough weather experienced during the transit.

“We are very thankful to our expert marine crew onboard the Clontarf who activated at short notice and were able to support the vessel despite very challenging conditions,” the spokesperson said.

“At times, the crew onboard Clontarf encountered rough weather including up to 30+ Knot Winds and 4m + swells.”

AMSA also spoke to DCN regarding the incident, confirming that Svitzer had been tasked by AMSA to “ensure the safety of the vessel” until the owners were able to provide additional tug SL Lulu ex Gladstone.

White Sky’s most recent port call is listed on MarineTraffic as being Ulsan, Korea, where it departed from last month (August).

According to Qships, the vessel is scheduled to berth at the Fisherman Island General Purpose Berth (FIGP) today (18 September).

SAMI Bitumen Technologies were confirmed to be the receivers of the product onboard White Sky, which will presumably discharge at FIGP, before it will return to Ulsan, Korea, slated to transit tomorrow (19 September) in the AM.

Equasis lists the registered owners of White Sky as White Star Shipping, as of March this year, with Clearlake Shipping listed as the ship managers.

Notably, the vessel was previously called Ocean World until March this year, according to the Tokyo MoU port state control database, with the vessel’s flag also changing from Panama to Portugal.

The vessel’s date of keel laid is listed as June 2008.