Coast Guard Halts Salvage of Grounded Fishing Boat During Storm
By the edhat staff
The U.S. Coast Guard has halted its salvage operation off Santa Cruz Island when the fishing boat broke free from its anchored position Tuesday.
Large swells from the recent rainstorm sent the Speranza Marie towards the rocks after it drifted ashore for several hundred feet.
The 60-foot fishing vessel originally became grounded near Chinese Harbor around 2:00 a.m. on December 15.
A Unified Command was established to address potential oil and diesel spills and protect the marine environment.
On December 22, the Speranza Marie was moved from the rocky beach on Santa Cruz Island to deeper water. Response workers aimed to recover hydrocarbon products and debris released during the vessel’s movement.
Based on the damage the plan was to allow the vessel to sink in place so that divers may prepare the vessel for proper salvage. with teams anchoring it in a secure position in preparation for inclement weather and further salvage operations.
The Unified Command has now declared a safety stand-down due to the vessel's current location on the rocks and harsh weather conditions, making it impossible to safely access and work on the vessel.
The U.S. Coast Guard also stated crews will monitor the boat until they can safely resume salvage operations.
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December 15, 2022:
December 22, 2022: Grounded Vessel Moved to Deeper Waters for Sink and Salvage
3 Comments
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Dec 28, 2022 07:15 AMYou better get a real salvage company in there. Bring back Curtain Marine and one of their Derrick barges.
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Dec 28, 2022 11:37 AMSeriously, why was this not taken care of already? It's been 13 days since the incident! Now it continues to leak toxic pollutants. This is a disgrace, Coast Guard.
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Dec 28, 2022 12:28 PMThe armchair experts have spoken!