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 | | Sunday, 17 February, 2002, 20:13 GMT Grounded cargo ship refloated  Water was pumped from the hold and engine room The cargo ship, Kodima, which ran aground off the coast of south east Cornwall, has arrived in Falmouth after being successfully refloated. The vessel has undergone an inspection in Falmouth Bay and judged to be in a satisfactory condition. The Kodima was docking to berth alongside Queens Jetty. The duty manager at Falmouth Coastguards, Sue Nelson says the Kodima is looking in a reasonably seaworthy condition. Timber alert The Maritime and Coastguard Agency's (MCA) counter pollution aircraft on Sunday flew over Whitsand Bay - where the ship was grounded for nearly two weeks - to make a final check of the area. No significant pollution problems were reported. Salvage experts raised the Maltese-registered vessel by pumping water from its hold and engine room.
Efforts to refloat the Kodima, which left thousands of tons of timber scattered along the shore, had earlier been hampered by bad weather. Meanwhile, a warning has been issued because part of the timber cargo that washed ashore from the Kodima has been washed back out again. The MCA has warned of the hazards of large bulks of timber continuously drifting at sea. The wood may be a navigation danger for vessels in the area off the south coast on the western approaches to Plymouth. Brixham coastguards are using regular navigation warning broadcasts to highlight the danger. Stormy seas The 6,000-ton ship was driven ashore in gales on 2 February. A Royal Navy rescue helicopter had to airlift nine salvage workers to safety from the deck after winds of force six and seven blew up during an earlier refloating attempt. The Kodima had been bound for Libya from Sweden when its Russian crew had to be rescued in gales. Thousands of tons of the pine planking from its holds were washed ashore. | |    See also: Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top England stories now:  Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||
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