Vessel grounded off Seychelles' Aldabra Island awaits high tide to move

Enterprise II seen from afar as it remains stuck on a sand bank at Aldabra since October 20. (Keith Andre)

(Seychelles News Agency) - The Island Development Company (IDC) on Friday said that it awaits the next high tide of two metres around the Seychelles' atoll of Aldabra to begin a salvage operation to free its vessel – Enterprise II – currently stuck on a sand bank.

IDC said in a statement that the tide is expected on November 15.

“IDC has liaised with the port authority to dispatch a tug boat to help salvage the vessel from the sand bank,” IDC’s Public Relations Manager Michael Payet said. “The tug boat is expected to leave Port Victoria on November 11 and will reach Aldabra on November 15.”

IDC is a parastatal company, which manages some of the outer islands of Seychelles – a 115-island archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.

Enterprise II is the main vessel used by the company to sail to the outer islands on a quarterly basis to discharge fuel oil and other provisions.

Enterprise II left Mahe, the main island for Aldabra -- a remote coral atoll located some 1,100 kilometres away -- on October 14 carrying some 160 tonnes of construction materials which will be used to build a cyclone resistant building on the atoll.

The UNESCO World Heritage site is managed by the Seychelles Islands Foundation and only a handful of rangers and researchers are stationed on the island, which was also threatened in April when an intense tropical cyclone – Fantala – caused damages to infrastructures on Farquhar island.

“Enterprise II went ashore on Aldabra on October 19 while the tide was two metres high. Such a big vessel can only approach the shore when the tide is at that height,” Payet said.

He added that while the unloading of its cargo on was completed on the same day, strong winds and current forced the vessel onto a sand bank as it attempted to leave the atoll the next day.

Thirteen crew members accompanied by two military officers for protection are on the vessel, and according to IDC they are all doing well and have enough food and water.

With the salvage operation planned for November 15, IDC is expecting Enterprise II to be back in Port Victoria on November 21.