Salvage Master News

Taylor Smith Shipyard (TSS), the oldest ship repair yard on Mauritius, has appointed Willy van Niekerk as new General Manager.van Niekerk knows the yard well and was Assistant General Manager since 2022. He has broad experience in the maritime and offshore industries, taking to sea at 14 as a school holiday job on a converted fishing vessel and deciding to study marine engineering as a result.Throughout the years, van Niekerk sailed on container ships and bulk carriers trading worldwide, becoming chief engineer in the process, before embarked on a shore based career.

A salvage team has refloated a charter fishing vessel that sank near California's Santa Cruz Island.Overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard and the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), the salvage operation included underwater assessment, refloating, stabilization and the safe transfer of the vessel to harbor. The operation was led by a seasoned salvage master and supported by a crew of four experienced salvage technicians and divers.Two dedicated recovery vessels equipped with lift bags, dewatering equipment and custom rigging were brought in to handle the vessel recovery.

This story spans a long period of time, but begins with a note I received recently on an earlier column from a reader named Allan Berger. He commented on the OODA loop concept in my “Pondering Truths in Design” column in the September MREN issue.He provided his approach that closely follows the OODA loop concept, which follows the principle of always gathering all the facts before speaking. That led to a discussion on decision making. Decision making is an extremely important concept that sets the course of human development, and is central to effective engineering.

Engineering and design consultancy BMT announced Shahrom Bin Ali has joined BMT Singapore as Marine Engineer Surveyor, expanding the company's capabilities and survey offering in the Asia-Pacific region.Shahrom brings over 20 years of industry experience in P&I and H&M investigations, salvage and vessel operations to his new role.After obtaining his diploma in Maritime Engineering at the Singapore Polytechnic, Shahrom started his seagoing career at A.P. Moller, serving as a marine engineer on a wide range of different vessels…

Salvors will remove cargo from the grounded containership Ever Forward as a means to lighten the vessel for another refloat attempt near the Port of Baltimore, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Monday.The Hong Kong-registered containership has been stationary since March 13, when it ran aground outside of the Craighill Channel in the Chesapeake Bay. No injuries or pollution have been reported. Dredgers have been digging out around the stuck box ship, and last week groups of tugboats were twice unsuccessful in trying to dislodge the 1…

Sri Lanka is seeking at least 340 million rupees ($1.9 million) from the owner of the stricken oil supertanker New Diamond for assistance given to the vessel since it caught fire on Sept. 3, the coordinating officer to the country's attorney general said.Nishara Jayaratne said the cost was for services provided by various departments including the Sri Lankan navy, air force, ports authority and Marine Environment Protection Authority, among others, up until Sept. 15.The fully-loaded vessel is still in Sri Lankan waters…

Mauritius said on Thursday it had started to scuttle the Japanese-owned bulk carrier that ran aground off its shores and spilled oil over pristine waters and fragile coral reefs. The MV Wakashio hit a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island on July 25 and began spilling oil on August 6, prompting the government to announce a state of environmental emergency.Two of the ship's officers were arrested on Tuesday on charges of endangering safe navigation.The government's National Crisis Committee said in a statement the exercise had started at around 1200 GMT."The ...

The harbor towage company in Finland and Estonia Alfons Håkans has successfully refloated the barge Trias on late Sunday evening 19 January 2020. The barge was aground on protected Natura 2000 area on Latvian shore.Estonian Raduga Shipping’s barge Trias (overall length 101 m. & breadth 19 m.) was under tow when the towline parted during poor weather on 31 December 2019. Consequently, the barge drifted aground near Ventspils, Latvia.Preparations for salvage, led by Salvage Master Pekka Arasola, started immediately on 5 January 2020 after Alfons Håkans was contracted to salve the barge. Tugs Thor and Poseidon were quickly mobilized to the area. Yet heavy swell slowed down the process."Because of temperate winter, weather on Baltic Sea has been extremely windy.

It has been ten years since the U.S. Salvage and Marine Firefighting Regulations were published: Is it time for a reassessment of the U.S. marine salvage posture?In 1982, the National Research Council’s Committee on the National Salvage Posture prepared a study entitled, “Marine Salvage in the United States.” The goal of the report was “to assess the present national posture for coping with ship rescue salvage and towing situations for time-critical offshore salvage in general.”…

The Hapag-Lloyd containership "Yantian Express", has been burning in international waters off Canada’s east coast since Jan. 3, is now headed for the Port of Freeport in the Bahamas."The container fire that broke out on board the Yantian Express was largely contained and brought under control after one week by immediately launched fire-fighting efforts. Since then, the remaining salvage operations have made considerable progress," said a press release from the German-based cargo container shipping line."The responsible salvage master from the company Smit has decided to sail the Yantian Express to the Port of Freeport (Bahamas)," it added.Once there, the recovery and assessment efforts of the cargo can proceed in a safer environment.

A sunken derrick barge has been raised from the Gulf of Mexico seafloor following several months of planning, engineering, on-site preparations and the heaviest salvage lift ever accomplished in the Americas, said marine services and wreck removal specialists Resolve Salvage and Fire Americas.The 350 ft x 100 ft derrick barge DB1 sank 30 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico on October 22, 2017, when adverse weather caused it to drag anchors and contact the offshore platform that the DB1 was engaged in removing.

U.S. salvage industry update: Coast Guard recognition and continuous improvement for the domestic salvage industry and its working professionals.Professional salvors are called in when the ship’s crew is overwhelmed – the last resort to protect lives, minimize environmental impacts and save the ship and cargo. These salvage masters, divers, firefighters, naval architects, heavy lift operators and other salvage team members regularly go into harm’s way and consistently perform incredible feats. They commit their lives and livelihoods to this work.

Marine salvage experts are floating a plan to tug icebergs from Antarctica to South Africa's drought-hit Cape Town to help solve the region's worst water shortage in a century.Salvage master Nick Sloane told Reuters he was looking for government and private investors for a scheme to guide huge chunks of ice across the ocean, chop them into a slury and melt them down into millions of liters of drinking water."We want to show that if there is no other source to solve the water crisis…

A 623-foot bulk carrier was refloated in the St. Lawrence Seaway Saturday after running aground near Wellesley Island, N.Y. last Wednesday.   The Antigua Barbuda flagged vessel Pacific Huron was refloated under the direction of the Donjon-Smit salvage master, two Canadian tugs, the Evans Mckeil and the Ocean A. Simard. No injuries or pollution have been reported.   A pilot boarded Pacific Huron to navigate the vessel to its anchorage location at Mason Point.   On Sunday divers conducted an underwater hull survey, and the classification society inspected the ship’s propulsion system.

Todd Schauer is Director of Operations at Resolve Marine Group, as well as President of the American Salvage Association. After graduating from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a degree in Naval Architecture in 1991, he followed that up with graduate degrees in Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. And, while his considerable U.S. Coast Guard experience includes shipboard engineering, marine safety, advanced engineering and emergency response, he is best known for his longtime role in the commercial salvage business.

Ardent salvage crews used a parbuckling method to right and refloat the cargo vessel, M/V Sternö, which was loaded with 1,400 tons of grain when it suffered a collision and rested on a jetty structure with a 54-degree list. Ardent crews were mobilized in late February 2017, completed the operation and delivered the vessel on March 22. “We mobilized salvage craft and equipment, connected three strand jacks to bollards on the opposite side of the river to parbuckle the vessel,” said Johan Foks, Ardent Salvage Master. “There were a lot of elements that we had to battle.

Todd Schauer is Director of Operations at Resolve Marine Group, as well as President of the American Salvage Association. After graduating from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a degree in Naval Architecture in 1991, he followed that up with graduate degrees in Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. And, while his considerable U.S. Coast Guard experience includes shipboard engineering, marine safety, advanced engineering and emergency response, he is best known for his longtime role in the commercial salvage business.

ISU’s President weighs in on the current state of international salvage, a changing landscape and the need for mutual fairness from all stakeholders in the global salvage and response arena. The last three decades have seen a significant reduction in marine casualties which is to be welcomed by all. Better ships; better inspection and port state control; the SOLAS convention; improved operational practices, liability concerns – both civil as well as criminal – and better crew training have all played their part.

A fire that broke out aboard the passenger vessel Caribbean Fantasy at 7:42 a.m. on August 17 has been extinguished, and the vessel has been moored safely in port. The Caribbean Fantasy is covered under Ardent’s OPA-90, Salvage and Marine Fire Fighting “SMFF” coverage program. Prior to Ardent operations, the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the vessel, and successfully evacuated more than 500 passengers and crew members. “We did a dive survey of the vessel at sea, found that there was minimal damage to the hull, and brought her to port with the USCG’s approval.

Donjon-Smit, LLC, an OPA-90 Alliance, announced that after a recent Board of Directors meeting Tim Williamson has been promoted to General Manager of Donjon-Smit, replacing Raymond Lord who recently retired. Williamson has been with Donjon-Smit from its inception and has served in several  roles, including IT/Operations Manager, Assistant Salvage Master, Salvage Master and Project Manager in support of Donjon-Smit. Most recently, Williamson has led Donjon-Smit’s revised and updated…

Senior Salvage Master Nick Sloane has joined the senior management team at Resolve Marine Group., aiming to help guide the global growth of the marine services company. The news comes just months after Resolve opened its operations in Gibraltar, expanding its emergency response capabilities to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “Nick is a force in the industry and now that Resolve has a worldwide footprint, he is a natural fit,” said Joe Farrell, President and CEO of Resolve Marine Group.

Current issues in marine salvage: the ISU perspective. There have undoubtedly been great improvements in ship and operational safety in the past decades. SOLAS, the international Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, has been in force for more than 30 years and has played a large part reducing the incidence of marine casualty. But accidents and incidents cannot be entirely eradicated and the potential for marine casualty – and pollution – remains present in all territories.

T&T Salvage was activated under its Salvage and Marine Firefighting Agreement to respond to a 600-foot laker that went aground on the St Mary’s River near DeTour Village, Mich. T&T Salvage’s naval architects and salvage master then developed a comprehensive salvage and lightering plan to ensure the safety of the ship, crew and responders, while protecting the environment. Once the salvage plan was approved by the Coast Guard and with T&T salvage personnel overseeing operations onboard the ship…