New age of salvage puts premium on safeguarding environment
Professional Mariner|April 2020
The tools and techniques for salvaging ships improved dramatically in the 20th century with the advent of more powerful pumps, safer diving apparatus and a host of other advancements.
Alan R. Earls
New age of salvage puts premium on safeguarding environment

While the technological changes have continued in the 21st century to retrieve sunken assets from the sea, the need to safeguard the environment has become as important as the recovery of the vessels themselves.

And that’s a good thing, given the proclivity vessels seem to have for capsizing and sinking. A prominent example at the moment is Golden Ray, a South Korea-built vehicle carrier that is being stabilized and disassembled after rolling onto its side in September near the Port of Brunswick, Ga., with an estimated 300,000 gallons of fuel onboard.

The salvage team expects to continue its efforts for several months under the watchful eyes of regulators and environmental groups. In other words, these are not quite the swashbuckling days of yesteryear when life and limb were regularly hazarded simply to refloat a vessel or at least retrieve its more valuable components. Now, a unified command, composed of federal, state, local and environmental officials, along with the responsible party and sometimes others, often oversees salvage operations.

In the case of Golden Ray, the heavy-lift vessel VB-10,000 — a twin-gantry catamaran 277 feet long and 314 feet wide, the largest such vessel ever built in the United States — also has been engaged for the project. Salvors hope the technology will reduce the number of potentially dangerous dives required in St. Simons Sound while also shortening the timeline to completion.

Asset value and the environment

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2020 من Professional Mariner.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2020 من Professional Mariner.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من PROFESSIONAL MARINER مشاهدة الكل
Mariner's role still unknown as autonomous shipping gains speed
Professional Mariner

Mariner's role still unknown as autonomous shipping gains speed

Mariners’ role still unknown as autonomous shipping gains speed

time-read
6 mins  |
December - January2021
Piracy edges closer to home with wave of raids in southern Gulf
Professional Mariner

Piracy edges closer to home with wave of raids in southern Gulf

In the brief cellphone video recorded by a crewmember on the offshore supply vessel (OSV) Remas, the pirates walk back and forth on the deck of the ship, clenching their guns and using them to point as they order around the crew. Their faces are draped in clothing and bandanas.

time-read
4 mins  |
December - January2021
Casualties
Professional Mariner

Casualties

NTSB: Dredge hit Texas gas pipeline, causing fire that killed four

time-read
4 mins  |
December - January2021
IMO emissions report raises new concerns about methane slip
Professional Mariner

IMO emissions report raises new concerns about methane slip

A recent report from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reveals that global shipping emissions increased nearly 10 percent from 2012 to 2018, with the industry facing a growing challenge concerning methane slip.

time-read
3 mins  |
December - January2021
Bay State brothers find industry niche by making old into new
Professional Mariner

Bay State brothers find industry niche by making old into new

Zero non-conformities is what you want to hear when the U.S. Coast Guard inspects your tugboat. Once you’ve prepared your vessel, the inspectors come aboard to peruse your paperwork. They ask you pointed questions, to which they expect straightforward answers. Perusal completed, they then scrutinize all of the related safety systems, from bilge to antennas — even the ship’s bell.

time-read
5 mins  |
December - January2021
Signals
Professional Mariner

Signals

A year into the pandemic, thousands ‘essentially indentured’ on ships

time-read
3 mins  |
December - January2021
Analysis points to faulty loading, low ballast in Golden Ray rollover
Professional Mariner

Analysis points to faulty loading, low ballast in Golden Ray rollover

While the salvage of the sunken vehicle carrier Golden Ray has been delayed for months due to COVID-19 and the hurricane season, analysis by the U.S. Coast Guard has determined a possible cause for the rollover: a combination of vehicles placed too high on the ship’s decks, and not enough ballast water gave the placement of the cargo.

time-read
2 mins  |
December - January2021
Seastreak newcomer pushing through dip in demand
Professional Mariner

Seastreak newcomer pushing through dip in demand

Two years ago, Seastreak LLC took delivery of Seastreak Commodore, a 600-passenger fast ferry, from Gulf Craft of Franklin, La. Designed by Australia-based Incat Crowther, the vessel is the largest of its kind in the United States and was built to meet the burgeoning demand for service in the New York-New Jersey market.

time-read
2 mins  |
December - January2021
New year in a new world: Navigating COVID's maritime realities
Professional Mariner

New year in a new world: Navigating COVID's maritime realities

In a matter of days, the decorative time balls will drop, “Auld Lang Syne” will fill the air, and ships at anchor will sound their horns as the world welcomes in the new year.

time-read
4 mins  |
December - January2021
Advanced props, rudders provide new efficiencies below the waterline
Professional Mariner

Advanced props, rudders provide new efficiencies below the waterline

It took a decade or two from the invention of the marine propeller in the 19th century for the technology to become widely accepted. Thereafter, adoption has been nearly universal, but progress toward improved efficiencies has come in fits and starts.

time-read
5 mins  |
December - January2021