The Hong-Kong based owners of a ship that ran aground in the Solomon Islands have denied reports that a navigation error caused it to hit the reef off Rennell Island.
The barges being used in the salvage operations off Rennell Island. Photo: Supplied
Thomas Cheung, the risk manager and insurance consultant at King Trader Limited, said the captain's report shows bad weather caused the MV Solomon Trader to drift towards the shore.
He said a team is at Kangava Bay to begin the salvage operations
"The cyclone has compounded the situation, aggravated the situation. At night time and the wind was very strong, very high speed and then blew the ship off. And then the ship also lost her anchor. I won't be surprised if the vessel is listed but to what degree."
Thomas Cheung has also denied reports of an oil spill.
He said the company is doing everything it can to remove the vessel.