BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Salvagers began on Monday to recover one of the world's biggest dredgers, which ran aground near the north China port city of Tianjin.

Work to salvage the 60,000-dead-weight-ton (dwt) Dutch dredger, WD Fairway, began at 2:30 p.m. in an area 17 nautical miles from Tianjin Port, according to the Ministry of Communications.

The WD Fairway was operating in the navigation route of Tianjin Port when it was struck by a container ship and ran aground at 12:55 p.m. on March 8. The crew managed to escaped safely.

The vessel, which is 230 meters long and 32 meters wide, can carry 35,000 cubic meters of dredged material. It was hired by the Tianjin Sea Route Bureau to dredge new navigation routes at the port two months ago.

It was ground in 5.5 meters of mud in waters 11.5 meters deep, said Song Jiahui, head of the Ministry of Communications Salvage Bureau.

The ship was seriously damaged and unable to float, said Song, adding it was a great challenge to salvage as it still had 2,300 tons of oil in its tanks.

Song said rescuers would first pump out the oil before dragging the ship out.