Salvage News

Salvage operations were in high-gear on Thursday to prevent a potential oil spill and pollution along South Africa's west coast from a grounded general cargo vessel, authorities said.The Panama-flagged "Ultra Galaxy" ran aground close to Doring Bay, some 300 km north of Cape Town, late on Tuesday after it started listing badly.

The Iranian Navy frigate Sahand entirely sank in shallow waters on Tuesday in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, Nournews agency said, after it was briefly repositioned following its initial capsizing on Sunday."The Sahand warship, which was rebalanced on the water with great difficulty on Monday, has now sunk after the rope holding the ship broke," said Nournews, a news agency affiliated to the Supreme National Security Council.On Sunday, state media said the ship had capsized during repairs at a wharf due to water ingress and that efforts were being made to rebalance it.The Iranian-built ste

Marine solutions provider Resolve Marine announced the formation of a Business Development division. To lead the effort from London, U.K., Daniel Dettor has been promoted to Director, Business Development. In this newly established role, he will focus on global business development initiatives and adds client services, government relations and brand, marketing and communications departments and personnel.Dettor brings to the role extensive salvage industry experience. He joined Resolve Marine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. in 2007 and moved to London in 2013.

Salvors have recovered Fiji's naval patrol boat RFNS Puamau, three weeks after the brand new vessel went aground on its maiden patrol.The vessel was successfully recovered from the reef at Fulaga and towed to the safe waters of Ogea Island where a thorough damage assessment will be conducted, the Republic of Fiji Navy said.RFNS Puamau is a Guardian-class Patrol Boat (GCPB) built by Austal for the Australian Department of Defence, which gifted the vessel to Fiji's Navy.Just months after the vessel's official handover in March…

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Monday it is inspecting key electrical components that were removed from the cargo ship Dali that crashed into a Maryland bridge in March, killing six people and destroying the Patapsco River crossing.In May, the NTSB said the Dali lost electrical power several times before the crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, including experiencing a blackout during in-port maintenance and shortly before the crash.The NTSB said it is continuing…

Singapore will seek compensation for the costs incurred in an oil spill last week from the owners of the stationary vessel that discharged the oil, local media CNA reported on Thursday.The Maritime and Port Authority told CNA that the shipowner of Singapore-flagged Marine Honour - which was hit by Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima - is liable for costs incurred in containing and cleaning the oil spill and damage to infrastructure.Reuters has reached out to the port authority for comment.Earlier…

Responders are working to salvage Fiji's brand new naval patrol boat, which ran aground during its maiden voyage last week.The vessel, RFNS Puamau, is a Guardian-class Patrol Boat (GCPB) built by Austal for the Australian Department of Defence, which gifted the vessel to the Republic of Fiji Navy.Just months after the vessel's official handover in March, it hit a reef on Fiji's remote Lau group of islands on June 10, during its first patrol.Now salvors are working to recover the stricken vessel while minimizing environmental impacts, including a potential oil spill.

This week's reopening of Baltimore's main shipping channel - less than three months after the Key Bridge collapse - was due to expertise gained from a COVID-era task force, a highway overpass collapse and the 2021 infrastructure law, government officials said.The deadly March 26 collision of the cargo ship Dali into the Francis Scott Key Bridge had paralyzed a major transportation artery for the U.S. Northeast.Within hours, President Joe Biden directed aides to get the channel reopened, the bridge rebuilt and vowed the federal government would cover the full costs.

Federal agencies said on Monday they have restored full access for commercial maritime transit through the Port of Baltimore after the removal of 50,000 tons of debris from the March 26 collapse of the Key Bridge.The cargo ship Dali crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March in Baltimore, killing six people and paralyzing a major transportation artery for the U.S. Northeast. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said a survey on Monday certified the riverbed as safe for transit…

A 72-year-old Great Lakes freighter has anchored safely in Thunder Bay, Ontario following a flooding incident in Lake Superior.At around 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, the Canadian-registered Michipicoten reportedly struck an underwater object and began taking on water in U.S. waters about 35 miles south of Isle Royale, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The ship, which is owned and operated by Canadian-based Lower Lakes Towing, was hauling taconite from the U.S. to Canada at the time of the incident.The flooding caused the 689-foot self-discharging bulk carrier to list to 15 degrees…

Ten weeks after the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, salvage crews successfully removed the final large steel truss segment blocking the 700-foot-wide Fort McHenry Federal Channel on June 3-4.Using concrete breakers, underwater surveys, and oxyacetylene torches, they separated tons of concrete roadway, cable, and steel rebar from "Section 4C" while removing debris with clamshell dredges.On May 20, Unified Command had cleared the Federal Channel to a width of 400 feet and a depth of 50 feet, allowing deep-draft commercial vessels to access the Port of Baltimore.

Canada is removing a trio of "problem" vessels that have been abandoned in Nova Scotia's Port of Bridgewater.The three vessels—Hannah Atlantic, Cape Rouge and Rupert Brand VI—all showing signs of disrepair, have been moored at a privately owned wharf on the LaHave River for a number of years, posing a threat to the marine environment.The Canadian Coast Guard's Marine Environmental and Hazards Response team is leading a six-month operation to remove, deconstruct and dispose of the derelict vessels.

Maritime services company Boluda Towage on Wednesday announced it has acquired France-based Les Abeilles International.Les Abeilles provides maritime rescue response services, with coverage along the French and Northern European coasts. Boluda Towage said the acquisition will enhance its capacity to act in case of offshore spills, with highly qualified equipment and state-of-the-art technology. Boluda Towage will also emerge as a new player in the wind energy markets, supporting the construction and maintenance of offshore wind farms.Through the acquisition…

These new photos, courtesy of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command, show the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the shrinking amount of steel wreckage remaining in Baltimore’s Fort McHenry Federal Channel.Unified Command cleared a 400-foot-wide swath of the federal channel May 20, permitting all pre-collapse, deep-draft commercial vessels transit of the Port of Baltimore.Unified Command continues to clear wreckage from the bottom of the Patapsco River, projecting to fully restore the Fort McHenry Federal Channel to its original 700-foot width and 50-foot depth by June 8-10.

Recovery teams refloated a large containership impeding shipping in the Port of Baltimore early on Monday and began pulling it free of the main channel, two months after the vessel crashed into the Francis Scott Key bridge and caused the span to collapse.Tugboats were leading the Dali to a local marine terminal after a successful effort to make the container ship buoyant at about 6:40 a.m. EDT (1040 GMT), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on social media platform X.The removal…

The refloat and transit of the M/V Dali from its current location to a local marine terminal is slated for early Monday morning.Optimum conditions call for the transit of the M/V Dali to commence at high tide, predicted to be Monday at 5:24 a.m. The vessel will be prepared at 2 a.m., allowing the M/V Dali to catch the peak high tide for a controlled transit.The entire refloat sequence (prior to high-tide transit) is estimated to begin roughly 18 hours beforehand, starting midday…

Unified Command officials continue to evaluate the M/V Dali in preparation for refloating the vessel and clearing the channel.Officials have evaluated sonar and lidar imagery but are awaiting results from a dive survey before proceeding with plans to refloat and move the Dali to Seagirt Marine Terminal in the Port of Baltimore.The diver inspection is a necessary step in the complicated process of reopening the Fort McHenry Federal Channel in a manner that mitigates risk to the…

An oil spill from a runaway barge that struck a bridge near Galveston has been contained, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday.At approximately 10 a.m. Wednesday, Martin Marine's barge MMLP 321 broke loose due to a break in the coupling and allided with the Pelican Island Causeway bridge, which connects Galveston Island and Pelican Island in Texas.There were no reports of injuries or any people in the water, officials said.One of the barge's cargo tanks became compromised as a result of the allision, causing an unknown quantity of vacuum gas oil to spill into the water.

A section of the busy Gulf Intercoastal Waterway has been closed to vessel traffic after a barge allided with a bridge that connects Galveston to Pelican Island, officials said on Wednesday.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Houston-Galveston were notified of the allision at 9:50 a.m. and that the cause of the incident is under investigation. The barge, owned by Martin Petroleum, is believed to be a runaway that broke loose from a tow.There were no known injuries…

The cargo ship Dali lost electrical power several times before it crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, killing six people and paralyzing a major transportation artery for the U.S, Northeast, federal investigators said on Tuesday.The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a preliminary report that about 10 hours before leaving Baltimore the Dali experienced a blackout during in-port maintenance and shortly before the crash.The board said the cargo ship…

U.S. crews in Baltimore set off controlled explosions on Monday to allow them to remove a portion of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the bow of the massive container ship that toppled the span in March.The detonations were meant to break the bridge's truss into small sections, enabling salvage crews to use cranes and barges to haul away the twisted metal wreckage, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. The work, originally planned for Sunday, was delayed because of weather conditions.The U.S.

U.S. crews in Baltimore plan to set off controlled explosions on Monday to allow them to remove a portion of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the bow of the massive container ship that toppled the span in March.The detonations will break the bridge's truss into small sections, enabling salvage crews to use cranes and barges to haul away the twisted metal wreckage, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said. The work had been planned for Sunday but it was delayed because of weather conditions.Afterwards…

Body camera video captured the shocked reactions of first responders in the aftermath of the collapse of a Baltimore bridge in March in which six men were killed.The recordings, obtained by local media on Friday, offer a snapshot of the incredulity of officers from the Maryland Natural Resources Police as they approached the site where the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed."Dude, this is fucking bad, like there is no bridge," one person can be heard in the video…