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9/13/08

M/V Antalina forced to wait out Hurricane Ike at sea.

 

The Coast Guard, along with the U.S. Air Force, mounted an attempt to rescue 22 crewmembers from the disabled 584-foot freighter Antalina, but crews had to abort the mission as on scene weather had deteriorated to a degree that made the rescue too dangerous for the Antalina's crew and too risky for the aircrews.  A Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet was able to reach the Antalina, where the crew reported 80 knot winds, 20-foot seas and visibility as low as a half-mile.  Two Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and two Air Force CV-22 Osprey's were launched for the rescue effort.  Video from the Falcon's flight can be viewed and downloaded by visiting http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=374909.  The Antalina, located roughly 100 nautical miles southeast of Galveston, is on a one hour, radio communication schedule with the Coast Guard and has been instructed to activate its 406 MHz Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon to signal an emergency.  The Antalina, loaded with approximately 11,000 metric tons of petroleum coke, had departed port to evade the hurricane, but lost propulsion while at sea.

The M/V Antalina survived the Hurricane and will return to port for repairs.

    Photo of the Antalina taken while transiting the Great Lakes in Sept of 2000. Photo by Sea-Corps.

 

 

 

TITAN Removes over 400 tons of the New Carissa's Stern Third-Phase of Wreck Removal to Begin

(COOS BAY, Ore.; July 24, 2008) Residents of Coos Bay, Ore., and others following the monumental shipwreck removal of the New Carissa via news reports and the Internet, can see TITAN Salvage means business.
Just three-and-a-half weeks after positioning the second jack-up barge in the surf near the New Carissa shipwreck, TITAN has reported that they have successfully removed more than 400 tons of the stern section above the waterline and will soon be ready to begin pulling the rest of the buried wreck out of the sand.
"We want her as light as possible before we start pulling," said Todd Busch, TITAN vice president. "We're not that far from being ready to take that fist pull - maybe a week or so."

The steel removal marks a significant milestone in the project. Phase three includes removing the balance of the stern portion, which includes the 200-ton main engine, from the sand.
The New Carissa, a 640-foot wood-chip carrier, ran aground just north of Coos Bay during a February 1999 storm, and subsequently broke apart becoming a total loss. Since 1999, several attempts by other companies to remove the wreckage, which later settled about 150 yards from the beachfront, have been unsuccessful. TITAN was contracted in 2007 to remove the remaining wreckage of the vessel.

The removal of the remainder of the stern, which is buried in nearly 20 feet of sand, will be a challenging aspect of the project and will require a great amount of effort. Using six TITAN linear hydraulic chain pullers, TITAN believes it can overcome the massive weight of the buried stern and any ground suction developed through the years.
Each puller, or hydraulic pulling machine, provides over 300-tons of pull and will be connected to strategic lifting points on the wreck. The innovative piece of equipment developed by TITAN is capable of doing the job of six to 15 normal-sized tugboats.

When comparing the pullers to the most massive salvage tugs, which are often 200-feet-long, TITAN pullers still provide more pull. The most massive salvage tugs are capable of 100 to 150-tons of pull making a single TITAN puller equal to two to three of those specialty tugs.
Once the wreck is pulled free, it will be cut into smaller, transportable pieces, placed on a deck barge, and ultimately taken to a recycling facility.
Last week Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski toured the jobsite and observed the progress of the New Carissa.

Part of TITAN's success so far can be attributed to innovation within the salvage team. Due to the dangerous location of the New Carissa, TITAN had to develop a way to get the 18-member salvage team and equipment to and from the jack-up barges, the Karlissa A and Karlissa B.
Salvage Master Shelby Harris and Phil Reed, director of engineering, along with TITAN's engineering and operations groups collaborated on the design of the Transporter. A hybrid of sorts, the Transporter was developed using engineering concepts of cable cars used at ski resorts and cable transporters used to move materials at logging camps in remote areas.
Rough weather conditions, like fog and high winds, along with choppy surf can make salvage efforts a nightmare - because helicopters cannot fly when there is low visibility or high winds and rough waters make it dangerous to transport personnel to the site on water. A tower, which was built by a local Oregon company, supports the 1,000-foot cable run, which ends on one of the legs of the Karlissa A.
So far Titan hasn't missed a day of work since operations began. Without the Transporter, about 90 percent of work days would not have been possible. The typical work schedule is 12 to 13 hours a day, 7 days a week.
"To date, we have had no limitations that restrict how the job has progressed. In fact, we are ahead of where we would be without the Transporter. We have a number of days where the wind or fog was too excessive and we would not have been able to access our work site by other means like a helicopter or boat. We have missed no days to excessive weather," Harris said.
Although TITAN has been able to adapt and work through environmental and job-related challenges, safety continues to be key in salvage and wreck removal operations.
"While our goal is to successfully remove the New Carissa, our number one priority is the safety of our personnel," Busch said. "Not only has our team developed innovative ways to address challenges, they have also participated in extensive safety training prior to beginning the project."
Crew training covered a variety of areas including hazardous waste operations (HAZWOP), confined space training, first aid, personal protective equipment, accident prevention. The team also focused on specialized training directly related to New Carissa job hazards.
A climbing instructor provided on-site training on the proper use of harnesses, fall arrest issues, ropes and bracing. The team also trained with the U.S. Coast Guard in the area of helicopter personnel recovery.
"All tasks that we undertake are judged and approached with caution and practicality. We will at least discuss and address areas of concern and take preventive actions as they come apparent," Harris said. "If necessary, we incorporate training as a preventive action, if a course exists for what we need.
TITAN, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Crowley Marine Services, Inc. is a worldwide salvage company based in Pompano Beach, Fla. The company also has offices in Newhaven, UK and Singapore along with an equipment depot in Batam, Indonesia. Over the past 27 years, TITAN has performed more than 300 salvage and wreck removal projects worldwide. TITAN responds to vessel emergencies around the world and is accessible 24 hours a day through the company's main dispatch telephone number, 954-545-4143. Additional information about TITAN may be found at www.titansalvage.com.

               

Reported by: Titan Salvage Co.


 

TITAN Salvage Safely Refloats Containership
M/V Maersk Diadema in Mexico

(DANIA, Fla,; September 7, 2007) Titan Salvage, Crowley Maritime Corporation's salvage and wreck-removal company, successfully completed the refloating of the M/V Maersk Diadema earlier this week at Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico.

The 975-foot laden containership, went aground outside the entrance channel, on its approach to the harbor on September 2. After a failed attempt by the ship's crew, Titan was contracted by the German owners on September 4 to refloat the one-year-old vessel from its resting place atop a sandbank.

A Titan salvage master and naval architect were dispatched to the scene to perform a preliminary survey of the vessel while a dive survey was also performed.

Using local tugs, the ship's own ballast system and the expertise of Titan's personnel, the vessel was successfully refloated on Sept. 5 approximately 24 hours after Titan Salvage was initially contacted.

This is the seventh successful salvage over the past 18 months that Titan has performed in Mexico. In March 2006, Titan successfully refloated the 835-foot containership APL Panama from a beach in Ensenada, Mexico, and redelivered her safely to her owners, concluding one of the largest commercial salvage endeavors ever undertaken.

Titan, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Crowley's Marine Services, is a worldwide salvage company based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The company also has offices in Newhaven, UK and Singapore along with an equipment depot in Batam, Indonesia. Over the past 25 years, TITAN has performed more than 300 salvage and wreck removal projects worldwide. Titan responds to vessel emergencies around the world and is accessible 24 hours a day through the company's main dispatch telephone number, 954-929-5200.Additional information about TITAN may be found at www.titansalvage.com.

Crowley Maritime Corporation, parent company of Crowley Marine Services, is headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. The company was founded in San Francisco in 1892 and is primarily a family and employee-owned company that provides diversified transportation and logistics services in domestic and international markets by means of five operating lines of business: Liner Services; Logistics Services; Petroleum Services, Marine Services and Technical Services. Other services provided within these business lines include contract towing and transportation; ship assist and escort; energy support; salvage and emergency response; vessel management, and petroleum and chemical transportation, distribution and sales. Additional information about Crowley its subsidiaries and business units may be found on the Internet at www.crowley.com.

   


 

 

10/13/06

 

 

   CAPTAIN RAY SKELTON passes away

With great sadness we announce the death of Captain Ray Skelton, Duluth Seaway Port Authority security, environmental and government affairs director.
Following a courageous battle with cancer, Captain Skelton, 63, died today (October 13) at his home in Duluth, Minn.
Captain Skelton, a former Great Lakes ship master, served as the security, environmental and government affairs director for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. He was also the foreign trade zone manager.
He began his career with the Port Authority in 1990, and was the Authority’s liaison on maritime trade and environmental issues with elected and appointed officials at regional and national levels.
A native of Bay City, Mich., Captain Skelton went to sea with the Navy Submarine Service in 1961. He saw extensive service in the Pacific Fleet until late 1964.
From 1965 through 1986, he served in various shipboard capacities with American Steamship Co., Litton Industries and Columbia Steamship Lines. He received a first class pilot’s license in 1972 and a master’s license in 1976 from the Associated Maritime Officers School of Navigation in Toledo, Ohio.
He was a U.S. Maritime Industry Representative to the Transportation Research Board Marine Environment Committee, Port representative to the Arrowhead Counter Terrorism Task Force, Great Lakes Port representative to U.S. Coast Guard District 9 Security Committee, Member of the Minnesota Sea Grant Advisory Board, Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute Advisory Committee, Area Maritime Security Committee Chair Facilities Security Sub-Committee, and the Port representative to U.S. Coast Guard Port Area Committee, Harbor Technical Advisory Committee, Metropolitan Interstate Committee Transportation Advisory Committee, Chamber of Commerce Committees on Transportation, Waterfront Issues, and Government Affairs, the Habitat Creation Task Force, the Voluntary Ballast Control Committee, and was the Port representative to the American Association of Port Authorities Harbors and Navigation Committee.
He was also a member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ruffe Task Force, Great Lakes Commission Ballast Demonstration Project, Steering Committee, Minnesota Representative to Great Lakes Regional Dredge Team and American Association of Port Authorities’ representative to U.S. Coast Guard Standing Committee on Ballast and Shipping.
Captain Skelton was past grand president of the International Shipmasters’ Association, past chairman of American Association of Port Authorities Harbors, Navigation and Environment Committee, past president of the Propeller Club of the United States-Twin Ports Chapter, a former director and instructor of the Associated Maritime Officers School of Navigation and served as U.S. ports representative on the National Research Council Marine Board Ballast Committee.Reported by Duluth Seaway Port Authority

 

 

9/12/06

A new U.S. Navy Mark V Helmet (#366 dated 08/25/06) was stolen from a customer in California Sept. 12, 2006.
If you are approached with this helmet it would be appreciated if you would contact DESCO.
Thank you,
Ric Koellner
DESCO Corporation
414-272-2371
 

 

 

 

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