A source at the Canadian tanker group tells TradeWinds that an assessment of damage to the hull of the 113,000-dwt Kyeema Spirit (built 1999) will accelerate in the next eight to 12 hours as winds have dropped to a 4 on the Beaufort Wind Force Scale and are forecast to fall even further.
Two tugs, the H Kanter (built 2002) and Calypso (built 2004), are on standby and an antipollution vessel controlled by the Estonia Government Interior Ministry, the Kindral Kurvits (built 2012) is at anchor nearby as a precaution, according to vessel tracking data.
The Kyeema Spirit, which is classed by Det Norske Veritas and maintains protection-and-indemnity cover with Gard of Norway, trades in an aframax pool and is one of 30 crude carriers controlled by Teekay Tankers.
While it’s too early to tell how long the vessel may be out of commission, equity analysts don’t seem too concerned about the potential impact to earnings and note that New York-quoted shares of its owner fell by just 1.02% to end the day at $3.95.
A spokesman for Teekay Tankers says reports that the grounded tanker is owned by Dr Peters are incorrect. In 2011 market sources said the ship was one of three Teekay aframaxes sold to the German KG outfit and chartered back to the group at $16,750 per day.
