The following has been released by salvage team and owners today:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Friday 29 August, 2003


Salvage team gear up for "Sealand Express" refloating attempt


The salvage team will take advantage of the high tide and high swells
predicted for this evening, as well as the spring tide that will be
experienced over the next 24 hours in their efforts to refloat the
grounded container ship "Sealand Express". The dredger - HAM 316 -
continued working through the night in the vicinity of the casualty and
halted dredging operations at 10h30 this morning in order that the 3
tugs to be used during the refloating attempt could be connected up to
the "Sealand Express". The tugs "Pacific Ariki", "Pacific Brigand" and
"Pacific Worker" - with a combined bollard pull of 400 tonnes - will put
strain on the tow wires, so as to prevent the casualty from becoming too
lively during the deballasting process, as soon as they are connected up
this morning.


Should the casualty not be successfully refloated this weekend, the
salvage team will reballast her in order to weigh her down and prevent
her from moving further up the beach, continue with the hazardous cargo
removal operation (weather permitting) and recommence dredging the area,
with a further refloating attempt being made on the next spring tide
over 10-12 September.


All of the pumpable heavy fuel oil (3518 tonnes) has been removed by the
salvage team from the container ship, leaving approximately 108 tonnes
of heavy fuel oil in the settling and service tanks and approximately 80
tonnes of unpumpable heavy fuel oil onboard. This will be removed should
it be deemed necessary. 300 tonnes of gasoil remains on board for use by
the ship's generators and main engines, if required.


Stress monitors fitted to the "Sea-Land Express"s hull indicate that
her condition is still sound.


Yesterday, the pilots of the 5-tonne helicopter attended a full
briefing and familiarised themselves with the local flying conditions
and the hazardous cargo removal flight path. The container containing
the (Class 1) Explosives was unpacked and 8 tonnes of product airlifted
off the "Sealand Express" by 18h00. This operation will not continue
today as the deballasting process means that the "Sealand Express" is
moving significantly more, making cargo handling unsafe. Should the
vessel not be successfully refloated, the hazardous cargo removal
operation will continue, weather permitting, on Sunday and until such
time as all cargo classed as hazardous has been removed.


The Joint Operations Committee is chaired by Captain Bill Dernier of the
South African Maritime Safety Authority and includes representatives
from SAMSA, U.S. Ship Management Inc, Department of Environmental
Affairs & Tourism, SMIT Marine South Africa, Maersk Sealand, SANCCOB, Blauwberg Municipality, Cape Metropolitan Council, Provincial Disaster
Management, Local Government, Western Cape Nature Conservation, SAPS,
Robben Island Museum, National Nuclear Regulator, NUFCOR and National
Ports Authority, amongst others.


The "Sealand Express" is a USA flagged container ship owned by U.S. Ship
Management, Inc and was built in 1980. She has a length of 257m and is
30 metres wide. SMIT Marine South Africa (Pty) Ltd, a SMIT company, was
awarded a Lloyds Open Form salvage contract with respect to the grounded
container vessel. The 32,926 DWT "Sealand Express" ran aground at 06h55,
200 metres off Sunset Beach, north of the Port of Cape Town on Tuesday
19th August in severe weather and wave conditions during a typical Cape
winter's storm. The vessel was en route to Cape Town from Durban and
Port Elizabeth, South Africa.