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Saturday, 26 December 2009 09:33 |
(VALDEZ, Alaska; December 25, 2009) The Crowley tugboat Pathfinder, which grounded Wednesday night on Bligh Reefin Alaska, is stable today at anchor near Busby Island surrounded by oil spill containment boom. A salvage team from TITAN Salvage has arrived at the scene and is evaluating the damage to the tug in preparation for lightering the remaining diesel fuel from two ruptured tanks to another vessel. A light sheen of diesel fuel has been observed outside the boom containment area and is being recovered with skimmers and absorbents. No impacts to wildlife have been observed or reported. "All of us at Crowley are deeply disappointed and saddened that this grounding occurred," said Rockwell Smith, senior vice president and general manager, Pacific/Alaska. "We regret that we've disrupted service to Alyeska and that fuel has been released into the water. We will get to the bottom of this and take all necessary corrective actions." A joint investigation is underway by the U.S. Coast Guard and Crowley. The tugboat's master and second mate have been relieved of duty pending further investigation. Crowley is currently working with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation in a Unified Command to develop a plan to remove fuel from the damaged tanks and tow the Pathfinder back to the Port of Valdez for more detailed assessment of damage. The Pathfinder, a tug used primarily for ship assist at the Port of Valdez, was monitoring ice conditions in Prince William Sound and was en route back to Valdez when the grounding occurred. "Crowley appreciates the prompt assistance of Aleyska response resources in addition to the Unified Command in coordinating this response" said Walt Tague, Crowley Incident Commander for the response. "Our objective is to mitigate the potential for further release of diesel fuel and relocate the vessel to a more secure moorage through safe and coordinated operations. In Valdez, Alaska, Crowley personnel and tugs help protect the environment through a contract with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company's Ship Escort/Response Vessel System (SERVS). Through this commercial partnership Crowley provides tug escorts for tankers traveling through Prince William Sound to and from the Valdez Marine Terminal, assuring their safe passage even under winter's most extreme weather conditions. Crowley also provides secure docking and undocking operations at the oil product loading terminals. Jacksonville-based Crowley Holdings Inc., a holding company of the 117-year-old
Crowley Maritime Corporation, is a privately held family and employee-owned company. The company provides diversified transportation and logistics services in domestic and international markets by means of six operating lines of business: Puerto Rico/Caribbean Liner Services, Latin America Liner Services, Logistics Services, Petroleum Services, Marine Services and Technical Services. Offered within these operating lines of business are the following services: liner container shipping, logistics, contract towing and transportation; ship assist and escort; energy support; salvage and emergency response through its TITAN Salvage subsidiary; vessel management; vessel construction and naval architecture through its Jensen Maritime subsidiary; government services, 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 .
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Friday, 18 December 2009 13:59 |
(POMPANO BEACH, Fla.; Dec. 18, 2009) The view at Gibraltar's Europa Point looks much different these days. This month TITAN Salvage successfully completed removal of the New Flame and has delivered more than 50,000 tons of scrap cargo and wreckage for recycling. From December 2007 through September 2009, a TITAN salvage team of about 20 experts continuously worked on the New Flame, a bulk carrier loaded with over 42,000 tons of scrap metal,to ensure the vessel was removed safely while ensuring environmental impact was minimal. The project was completed this month with the completion of sub-sea work and demobilization. In all, TITAN recovered approximately 39,488 tons of scrap cargo. The total weight of the recovered wreck's structure weighed 5,914 tons bringing the total weight of wreck and cargo to 50,900 tons - inclusive of all ships' engines, machinery and related hydrocarbons and pollutants. The entire stern section of the New Flame was shipped off in one piece to a scrap company in Belgium. "The difficult operations to remove as much of the cargo and wreck as is environmentally sensible to do has been achieved. This has been an all-embracing effort from many Government departments, the Salvors, the Swedish Club and Gibraltar environmental groups. I would like to thank them all," Shipping Minister Joe Holliday told the Gibraltar Chronicle newspaper. Another government spokesman, who spoke to the Gibraltar Chronicle newspaper, also credited TITAN's skill at managing the complex operation. "Complex and hazardous salvage operations, undertaken by Titan Salvage, one of the world's leading salvage companies, have resulted in the removal of such of the cargo and wreckage as the restoration of maritime safety requires, and the interests of the environment permits," the government spokesman said. The New Flame sank following a collision while exiting the port of Gibraltar in August 2007. The scrap metal was being transported from New York Harbor to Turkey for recycling."The entire TITAN team - from salvors to support personnel - is extremely pleased with the final results, despite all the challenges we faced in removing the wreck of the New Flame. The success of this project is largely attributed to the close cooperation of our client - The Swedish Club and their advisors, TMC consultants. The dedication of TITAN's local agent, Mr. Jason Davis of Maritima del Estrecho and the cooperation extended by the Government of Gibraltar were invaluable in assisting our efforts. We are honored to have been part of this wreck removal operation," said Dan Schwall, managing director of TITAN Salvage. In mid-December 2007, vessel underwriters contracted TITAN, after previous salvage and wreck removal efforts were unsuccessful. TITAN had numerous vessels on-site including Crowley's Invader-class tug Warrior, which served as the primary salvage tug on site; URS's dive support vessel Union Beaver; ITC's Shoal Buster-class tug Mistral and Crowley's 400' x 100' deck barge 408. TITAN also used their specially engineered 300-metric ton capacity linear hydraulic pullers known as TITAN Pullers and the crane barge Rambiz to lift the vessel's stern section. Additionally, TITAN utilized the TAKLIFT-VI, barges BIGFOOT-1 and GIANT-3, tugs ELSBETH III and BRAVEHEART and numerous locally operated vessels from Gibraltar. TITAN, a wholly owned Crowley subsidiary, is a worldwide marine salvage and wreck removal company based in Pompano Beach, Fla., that has performed over 350 salvage and wreck removal projects since 1980, including some of the most technically demanding projects ever undertaken. The company also has offices and equipment depots in Newhaven, UK and Singapore. Titan responds to vessel emergencies around the world and is able to mobilize a worldwide network of expert salvage professionals and specialized, portable equipment within hours of activation. TITAN is accessible 24 hours a day through the company's main dispatch telephone number, +1-954-545-4143. Additional information about TITAN may be found at www.titansalvage.com. |
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