Abstract: A rupture in a portion of the cargo hold area of a liquid-bulk carrier cargo ship is closed by inserting a flexible, liquid-tight bag through a hatch into the hold, then pumping fluid contained in the hold back into the bag to deploy the bag. The pumping is continued until the bag has deployed far enough to cover the rupture. Such covering prevents further leakage of the cargo out of the hold. The preferred form of the invention includes the use of the ship's pumping system; however, alternative forms of the invention include self-contained units. The preferred form of the bag includes Spectra material.