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Virginia Responder News

02 Mar 2004

Bow Mariner Update: Oil Recovery Efforts Continue

A fire-damaged lifeboat from the Bow Mariner drifts Feb. 29, 2004, after the vessel sank the night before off Chincoteague, Va. The U.S. Coast Guard flights continues off the coast of Virginia to search for survivors and to survey the state of the fuel oil spilled from the chemical tanker which exploded and sank Saturday evening. The vessel, T/V Bow Mariner, a Singapore-flagged chemical tanker, had left Linden, New Jersey for Texas City, Texas, carrying a partial cargo of 3.2 million gallons of ethanol.

02 Mar 2004

Bow Mariner Update: Oil Recovery Efforts Continue

A fire-damaged lifeboat from the Bow Mariner drifts Feb. 29, 2004, after the vessel sank the night before off Chincoteague, Va. The U.S. Coast Guard flights continues off the coast of Virginia to search for survivors and to survey the state of the fuel oil spilled from the chemical tanker which exploded and sank Saturday evening. The vessel, T/V Bow Mariner, a Singapore-flagged chemical tanker, had left Linden, New Jersey for Texas City, Texas, carrying a partial cargo of 3.2 million gallons of ethanol.

03 Mar 2004

Side-Scan Sonar Employed to Explore Bow Mariner

The U.S. Coast Guard is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ship Rude and will use Side Scan Sonar technology to check the condition of the T/V Bow Mariner that exploded and sank Saturday night. The 90-foot Norfolk, Va., based NOAA Ship Rude is equipped with side scan sonar technology and will sweep the area where the T/V Bow Mariner sank to acquire imagery of the condition of the vessel. This is not the first time the Rude has been used for missions like this. Previously, the RUDE assisted with the search and recovery of TWA flight 800 in 1996 and the search and recovery operations of John F. Kennedy Jr’s aircraft and Egypt Air flight 990 off the Massachusetts coast in 1999.

04 Mar 2004

Bow Mariner Update: Oil Recovery Ops Continue

According to the Coast Guard, the Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) oil recovery vessel VIRGINIA RESPONDER began skimming operations, however, recoverable oil is widely dispersed and the amount recovered has been minimal to date. A helicopter has been flying throughout the day to locate patches of oil and direct the skimming vessel. The oil spill recovery vessel has been on-scene since Monday prepared to recover oil. Previous flights of the area located oil that was too spotty, patchy and widely dispersed to efficiently pick-up. On-scene conditions are favorable. During a Tuesday over flight, patches of oil were located in the area where the T/V BOW MARINER sank Saturday night.

08 Mar 2004

Bow Mariner oil skimming successful

Oil skimming was suspended this weekend as bad weather moved toward the site where the tanker T/V BOW MARINER exploded and sank off the Virginia coast Saturday night. Helicopter over-flights showed the oil was mostly in thin sheens on the water, strung out in long streamers, and widely separated, limiting the amount the skimming vessel, the VIRGINIA RESPONDER, was able to recover. The sixth and final member of the crew was released from Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. All of the survivors have had an opportunity to meet with diplomatic officials from their native Philippine Islands, and have had an opportunity to call their families. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vessel RUDE made a second attempt to obtain images of the sunken vessel with its side-scan sonar.