Asian giant floating derrick Hua Tian Long arrived in Hong Kong yesterday to carry out salvage operation of a Ukrainian tugboat sank off Lantau Island on March 22.

The derrick which is owned by the Guangzhou Salvage Bureau was originally scheduled to come to the city last month, but the arrival was postponed as preparatory works were not completed.

Earlier the Guangzhou Salvage Bureau sent other floating derricks including Nan Tian Ma and Nan Tian Shun to assist in the operation.

However, the salvage work was halted on March 29 after the Fire Services Department decided the operation posed too much of a danger to its divers. One of the divers was trapped underwater as his equipment became tangled with debris.

Hua Tian Long entered Hong Kong waters from the west yesterday afternoon.

The giant barge with a 74-meter boom cannot sail under Tsing Ma Bridge whose clearance is only 60 meters.

The 168-meter long derrick can lift up to 4,000 tons.

It will right the wreck of Neftegaz-67 with eight cables and divers will cover the oil tanks of the vessel to avoid oil leakage during the operation, said Marine Department official Lau Wing-kin.

Hua Tian Long will then lift the tugboat from the seabed at a depth of 37 meters.

Finally the water inside the vessel will be sucked out and breakages on it will be repaired to allow the wreck to float to the water surface, Lau added.

Neftegaz-67 will then be towed away to shallow waters for police and firemen to search for the missing crew members.

The salvage work will be carried out round-the-clock. It is expected to finish by the end of this month.

The Marine Department declared waters in the vicinity of 120 hectares of the operation site as a restricted area to ensure the safety of divers.

The department will implement special traffic control arrangements and send marine launches to guide traffic in the area.

"Vessels navigating in the vicinity should keep well clear of the area and proceed with extreme caution at slow speed, bearing in mind that there are divers working in the area," the Marine Department noted.

Lau reminded ship captains to pay attention to radio broadcast by the Marine Department.

According to media reports, the daily rental cost of Hua Tian Long could reach HK$2 million. All operation costs will be paid by the company which owns the wreck.

The 80-meter-long Ukrainian tugboat sank off Brothers Island after colliding with a Chinese cargo ship Yao Hai three weeks ago. Only seven out of 25 sailors aboard were saved.

Divers later recovered three bodies before the suspension of the salvage work last month.

(HK Edition 04/17/2008 page1)