TUGS & TOWING
Credit: Gibdan-Ships Nostalgia
HISTORIC FUEL REMOVAL TASK FOR RESOLVE
US-based salvor Resolve Marine has recovered fuel oil from a tanker sunk by a German submarine nearly 80 years ago, 70 miles off Florida. A marine archeological survey established that what had been thought to be the tanker Munger T Ball was in fact the Joseph M Cudahy, another tanker sunk by a German U boat. In an operation lasting 40 days, Resolve employed divers, marine archeologists, a work class ROV and technicians to remove 35,000 gallons of heavy oil from multiple tanks. The operation followed a similar hot-tap fuel removal task for Resolve earlier in 2021 for the Canadian Coast Guard off the west coast of Canada, another example of an historic wreck that has retained fuel, presenting potential pollution risks as it deteriorates (see MJ September 2021). Another wreck removal operation has been completed by Resolve, contracted by a London-based P&I Club for the general cargo vessel Cdry Blue which had grounded on the south coast of Sardinia. Resolve’s crane barge RMG 20 was towed to the site from its base in Gibraltar by the tug Resolve Hercules and using a combination of the crane barge, chain pullers and lift bags Cdry Blue
along with associated debris was removed from the area. Another operation in the same region saw Resolve assist a loaded container vessel that grounded while moving anchorages in the Suez Canal. An inspection by a Resolve salvage team flown in from the Netherlands, including by divers determined that cargo needed to be removed to facilitate refloating and after a salvage plan was developed and approved by the Suez authorities the vessel was refloated by two local tugs. A potentially major vessel casualty and pollution situation was averted late in 2021 when a container ship transiting the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Vancouver Island
8 Resolve Hercules assisted in a wreck removal operation off Sardinia
experienced heavy weather resulting in the loss of and shifting of several containers. A subsequent fire among the shifting boxes threatened to escalate an already dangerous situation and Resolve was contracted by the vessel’s owners and their insurers with three firefighting tugs tasked to assist along with the salvor’s firefighting team based in Seattle and pumps from its Seattle and San Francisco response depots. The efforts of all concerned were successful and after the cargo was stabilised the vessel was able to proceed to a container terminal for discharging.
Another operation in the same region saw Resolve assist a loaded container vessel that grounded while moving anchorages in the Suez Canal. An inspection by a Resolve salvage team flown in from the Netherlands, including by divers determined that cargo needed to be removed to facilitate refloating and after a salvage plan was developed and approved by the Suez authorities the vessel was refloated by two local tugs
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FEBRUARY 2022 | 21
