Sheepshead Bay News

Donjon Marine, Co., Inc. salvaged the dinner cruise vessel Sunset Queen, which sank on January 28, 2007, alongside one of the Municipal Piers located in Sheepshead Bay, New York, in about 20 ft. of water. The Sunset Queen is approximately 100 ft. long and 30 ft. wide with a light ship weight of approximately 200 tons. The salvage effort, considered a pick and pump operation, involves lifting the vessel to the surface with the use of the 400-ton capacity Donjon Derrick Barge Columbia New York, where the vessel is then pumped free of water with the use of portable pumping systems and subsequently refloated. Upon successful re-floating, the vessel will be delivered to owners at Mays Shipyard located in Staten Island, New York, for survey and repair work.

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York issued a press release reporting that the United States filed a complaint against a building owner and management company for recovery of monies expended in responding to and cleaning up an oil spill in Sheepshead Bay in 1999. The complaint alleges that heating oil leaked from the building's underground storage tank and that the building's sump pump pumped the oil into the storm sewer line. Approximately 2,300 gallons of heating oil was discharged into the bay. OPA 90 cleanup costs were in excess of $295,000.