Fishing Vessel Salvaged by Donjon Marine

Donjon Marine successfully delivered F/V Cape Fear, a 112 ft. clam dredging vessel, to its owners in New Bedford, Mass. F/V Cape Fear sank in 78 ft. of water while returning from a routine fishing trip south of Martha's Vineyard. When the vessel sank, it rolled over and came to rest on the port side, nearly inverted, on a muddy bottom. Donjon Marine was hired to raise Cape Fear and deliver it to its owners in a safely afloat condition, using crane barges Chesapeake 1000 and Farrell 256. Since the vessel was full of sand it had to be raised on its side with three in. wire slings and towed in those same slings, suspended from the hook of Chesapeake 1000, and brought into the protected waters of Buzzards Bay, where it could be rolled upright. Once upright, more than 200 tons of sand was removed from the accommodation spaces, the engineroom and the six clam holds using a floating crane and a vacuum truck secured to deck barge Witte 106. Finally, with the clams, sand A-frames and outriggers removed, along with a six by six ft. hold patched in the engineroom, the vessel was towed to its owners by tug Mary Alice. Donjon is currently involved in other salvage projects, including a disabled ocean-going tug from Massachusetts to New York (using tug Paul Andrew) and towing Navy frigates from Philadelphia to Turkey (using tug Powhatan).