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Salvage Contractor News

24 Feb 2021

Navy to Remove Island on Fire-stricken USS Bonhomme Richard

The fire-stricken amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) sits pier side at Naval Base San Diego in July 2020. (Photo: Jason Waite / U.S. Navy)

The U.S. Navy has begun the process to remove the island from the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) as part of an ongoing inactivation availability for the warship that was destroyed by a major fire in 2020.Salvage contractor Smit Americas started the removal process Tuesday, the Navy said. Workers will reduce the island's height down to just above the flight deck to improve the ship’s structural integrity and readiness for tow.The Navy announced at the end of 2020 it would scrap the…

23 Aug 2012

The Search for Amelia Earhart Continues

The team aboard the K-O-K research vessel prepare the Bluefin Robotics AUV for deployment. The vehicle was equipped with a Ranger 2 tracking transponder, visible towards the rear of the AUV

Acoustic positioning technology from Sonardyne Inc, Houston, was selected to play a key role in a recent expedition aiming to solve one of the greatest mysteries of the 20th century. A Bluefin Robotics AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) was equipped with a Sonardyne Ranger 2 underwater target tracking system which was used by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) to search for the remains of the Lockhead Electra aircraft flown by Amelia Earhart during her failed circumnavigation attempt in 1937.

31 Jan 2012

Seaflex Bouyancy Shows Real Utility

Seaflex buoyancy systems in action.

Unique Maritime Group’s marine buoyancy solutions help stricken vessel and world’s largest windfarm; highlights the diverse uses for Seaflex buoyancy systems. Unique Maritime Group, one of the world’s leading integrated turnkey subsea and offshore solution providers, today announced two key projects, involving buoyancy systems provided by Seaflex Ltd. The London Array is an offshore wind farm under construction in the outer Thames Estuary in the United Kingdom. With 1,000 megawatt (MW) capacity, it is expected to become the world's largest offshore wind farm.

12 Oct 2011

Liberian Registry Cooperates in Rena Salvage Ops

THE Liberian Registry has confirmed that it is continuing its investigation and is working co-operatively with the maritime authorities and emergency response teams in New Zealand following the grounding of the containership Rena off the country’s coastline on October 5. The ship has been entered with the Liberian Registry since November 2010 when it was acquired by the current owners, who have a long-standing and reliable history with the Liberian Registry. It has been engaged in regular trading between Australia and New Zealand, and is understood to have been a regular caller at the port of Tauranga. The Liberian Registry’s specialist investigation team of marine experts is co-operating closely on site with the owners…

25 Aug 2010

Donjon Marine to Recover Historic War Vessel

Photo courtesy Donjon Marine

Donjon Marine, Co., Inc., a global marine services provider based in N.J., served as the lead salvage contractor to the U.S. Navy to coordinate the locating and initial archeological investigation of the USS Scorpion, the flagship of a U.S. Navy fleet known as the Chesapeake Flotilla during the War of 1812. The recovery of the vessel is to be accomplished in two to three phases. Phase one, just completed, was designed to locate and conduct preliminary preparatory work for the more extensive archeological work to be done in concert with the bicentennial celebration of the War of 1812.

04 Aug 2009

Containment Efforts, Bulker Grounding

The owners of the 26,800 dwt bulk carrier Full City, which ran aground whilst in ballast at Langesund off the southern coast of Norway in heavy weather on July 31, say the majority of the approximately 1,200 tons of bunker fuel on the vessel remains on board. Meanwhile, they are continuing to focus their priorities on containment and limitation of any potential environmental damage in the wake of the casualty. This is being done in full co-operation and co-ordination with the Norwegian authorities. Response efforts have so far focused on the containment and recovery of the oil which has escaped from the vessel’s bunker tanks into the sea.

29 Sep 2008

NAVSEA Continues Hurricane Ike Relief Efforts

Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), a directorate of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Washington D.C. cleared the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) near Galveston, Texas, for marine vessel traffic Sept. 25. The salvage removal operation directly supports Hurricane Ike relief efforts. "We originally identified five salvage targets, two of which were confirmed to be commercial-size fishing vessels," said Michael Herb, director of salvage operations. "However the work has grown and a total of three deck barges full of debris have been removed." SUPSALV and its east coast salvage contractor, Donjon Marine, commenced salvage removal operations Sept. 17. NAVSEA's SUPSALV received the request from the Galveston District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) Sept.

09 Feb 2005

Regulatory Climate for Emergency Response

The holidays this past year presented unique challenges for the salvage industry in the U.S. On Friday Evening, November 26 (Thanksgiving Weekend) the fully laden 60,000 dwt tanker Athos 1 struck an object on the bottom of the Delaware River causing a sizable crude oil spill and a serious list on-board the vessel. A few days later, on December 8, the fully laden 70,000-ton bulk carrier Selendang Ayu lost power off Dutch Harbor, Alaska. It grounded and broke into two pieces spilling both cargo and bunkers into the sea. As the Athos 1 is a tanker, it had a USCG approved Vessel Response Plan (VRP) which was activated immediately. The "Qualified Individual" (required to be named in her VRP by the USCG) activated her Spill Management Team within minutes.

10 Aug 2006

Donjon Marine Removes Grounded Vessels

Donjon removed the Navy research vessel Shadwell from Mobile Bay, after it was grounded as a result of the recent hurricanes. Donjon Marine, Co., Inc., recently removed from strand the Ex-Troop Carrier State of Maine and the Navy research vessel Shadwell, which were grounded on Little Sand Island in Mobile Bay, Ala., as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The operation was planned, and directed by Donjon, but performed with the use of local subcontractors for dredging, crane barge, and towing services. A U.S. Navy Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) also was deployed for diving and support labor. This project also offered an opportunity for the MDSU team to use and train on its hydraulic pulling equipment, which was specifically designed for grounding operations.

14 Nov 2005

Donjon Serves as Lead Salvage Contractor in Gulf Recovery

Donjon Marine is serving as the lead salvage contractor for the Katrina/Rita Response as a result of its competitively bid U.S. Navy Salvage and Related Services Contract with the U.S. Navy, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving . Donjon has held this contract, uninterrupted, since 1979, after a competitive bidding process approximately every five years. As such, Donjon supplies equipment and personnel in support of the needs of the Federal Response Team (FEMA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Coast Guard who task and direct SUPSALV), and also has a 10-person management team in place in Alexandria, LA, to manage the salvage response effort.

31 Jul 2003

Coast Guard and Navy Assist Grounded Vessel

The Coast Guard and Navy assisted the two-man crew of a 62-foot pleasure craft LEGACY III after it ran aground Monday night North of Port Ludlow near Mats Mats Bay. The LEGACY's crew used their cell phone to call Jefferson County Dispatch who then notified the Coast Guard at 7 p.m. of boats situation. An HH-65 Dolphin helicopter was dispatched from Port Angeles and the U.S.S. ZEPHYR, a 170-foot Navy Patrol boat, diverted from its course to assist. The U.S.S. ZEPHYR dispatched a small boat to bring the two men from the grounded boat onto the patrol boat. Then two Coast Guard personnel attached to the ZEPHYR were placed on the LEGACY III with two dewatering pumps. The Coast Guardsmen stayed onboard the vessel until a commercial salvage contractor out of Port Townsend arrived on scene.