ASA Member Responds to Tanker

On July 12, 2007, a member of the American Salvage Association (ASA) responded to White Sea, a 243-meter motor tanker, which ran aground near Ambrose Light, off Coney Island, New York.

The tanker was outbound fully loaded with 548,000 barrels of Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (LSFO) when she reportedly had a steering malfunction and ran aground. Immediately upon notification, the ASA member mobilized a team of salvage experts, which arrived on site within hours of the casualty.

The ASA member company’s salvage engineers, along with the SERT team from U.S. Coast Guard, worked through the day to develop a Salvage and Lightering plan and once approval was obtained from the Coast Guard, the salvage team worked through the night to remove 120,000 barrels of product from the grounded tanker. Although there was no penetration to the cargo tanks, the vessel did suffer two breaches to the ballast tanks. Upon completion of the lightering and deballasting operations, the vessel was safely refloated during the high tide on July 13, utilizing four local tugs. The ASA member began an underwater inspection of the ship’s hull in conjunction with local authorities and the vessel’s classification society, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). Further planning was undertaken to prepare and obtain approval from the Coast Guard for the full discharge of cargo from the casualty. Under the direct supervision of company personnel, all 548,000 barrels of cargo was transferred on to another vessel to enable the White Sea to safely transit light ship to a repair facility. Cargo transfer operations were completed and the vessel sailed from New York Harbor on July 28 bound for an undisclosed facility.