On June 13, a member of the American Salvage Association (ASA) responded to grounded vessel in the Mississippi River just above Cubit’s Gap, about 10 miles below Venice, Louisiana. Traffic on the Mississippi was not impeded by the grounded vessel. The ASA member was placed on standby pending the results of aninitial effort to refloat the vessel with tugs.
Within a few hours of the vessel owner’s activation of its Vessel Response Plan (VRP) on June 14 in accordance with the new US Coast Guard Salvage and Marine Firefighting Regulations, the
ASA member began efforts to conduct an on board survey, prepare a damaged stability assessment, and develop a salvage plan to refloat the vessel.
With the assistance of five tugs used to scour the buildup of silt around the vessel, the vessel was refloated and maneuvered back into the channel. She was then successfully anchored at South West Pass Fairway anchorage.
“ASA’s member performed another successful professional salvage response to this grounded vessel, alleviating any damage to the vessel, harm to its crew, and to permit the continued movement of traffic on this key river artery,” said Mauricio Garrido, ASA President