No timeline for the removal of the Qawra Point shipwreck has been established yet, a spokesman for Transport Malta said.
The 885-tonne Hephaestus ran aground on the rocks off Fra Ben almost two months ago, and has remained there ever since.
“Following weeks of negotiations, a firm of marine salvage experts, appointed for and on behalf of the owners of the ship and their insurers, have communicated a request for quotations to a number of selected contractors,” the spokesman said.
Quotations will be accepted until April 13, he said, adding that the salvage experts will then select a contractor and establish a timeline for the wreck-removal operation.
Transport Malta took all the necessary steps to safeguard the Maltese shores
“Transport Malta took all the necessary steps to first and foremost safeguard the Maltese shores, then to have the owners remove the vessel as fast as possible,” he added.
The cost of the removal had also not been determined yet, the spokesman added. However, a source close to the Transport Ministry said this would cost around €1 million.
Removing the ship by cutting into various parts on site was also dismissed, the source added, noting that the environmental consequences of this process would be disastrous.
The beached vessel would have to be raised from the rocks from where it is currently wedged and then towed, the source added.
The Togo-registered Hephaestus also raises liability issues, problems of logistics and proper disposal of the wreck, the source concluded.
Read: Captain of ship which ran aground describes ordeal
The ship’s crew, made up of five Bangladeshis and two Russians, were stranded on Malta and housed at the Seafarers’ Centre in Floriana.
They had been at sea for four months before the shipwreck.
The incident was particularly memorable since the vessel ran aground close to the site where St Paul, according to the Bible, was shipwrecked in Malta around 2,000 years ago.
The ship ran aground in a thunderstorm and northerly Force 6 winds when it was passing by Malta. At the time, the local maritime authorities said the there was no risk of pollution or of fuel seeping out.