Salvage Specialist Bisso Marine Stays Busy
Ship Shoal Jack-up: Bisso Marine's offshore salvage division recently completed phase I operations on a 5,000-ton offshore jack-up drilling rig located in the Gulf of Mexico's Ship Shoal 126 field. This first phase saw the removal of the 144-foot by 128-foot, 800-ton mat from a depth of 90 feet (27m) with a 40-foot (12m) natural bottom.

The Bisso Marine crew had to excavate several thousand tons of mud from the top of the mat before divers could survey the situation and make the repairs necessary to seal up compartments.

Damaged compartments were repaired by welding and installing soft patches. The compartments were then pressed and the seawater was evacuated. The crew raised the hull to the surface to make further repairs. The mat was then towed to Morgan City, Louisiana.

The Bisso team used the salvage barge Big Chief on the job, spending 30 working days at the site to complete Phase I. Bisso's Vice President of Salvage, Kelly Steele, said Phase II would include removal of the hull sections.

Luke David: On February 24, 2002, Bisso Marine's D/B Boaz arrived at the Mobile Bay Block 953 location where the lift boat Luke David had come to rest after shearing away from its legs, capsizing, and drifting more than 15 miles in 10-foot seas.

Bisso's salvage and diving personnel, working with a short weather window, cut off the upper 30 feet of the 100-ton crane gantry, cut the 30-ton crane off at the pedestal, and then cut away the upper five feet of the wheel house. The Bisso crew then reclaimed the engine room compartments, raising the vessel to a maximum navigation draft of 35 feet.

Within twenty-six hours of the Bisso Marine crew's arrival, the Luke David was towed up the mobile ship channel and secured at the Alabama state docks. She was rigged and up-righted without incident, and delivered to Conrad Ship Yard in Morgan City, where it was to be refurbished.

Phoenix International Searches for Shuttle
Phoenix International, a prime contractor to the US Naval Sea Systems Command's Office of the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), was heavily involved in the operations to locate, recover, and map debris from the downed Space Shuttle Columbia.

As director of all underwater search and recovery efforts for Columbia, SUPSALV directed Phoenix to assist in locating remnants of the spacecraft that may have fallen in and around Texas waterways. The project included the provision of boats, underwater search systems, sonar operators and analysts, logistics coordination, and the construction and management of a database to catalog the precise location of every recovered item.

The immense and difficult search effort included participants from federal and state agencies as well as commercial survey companies. The team included Navy divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 of Norfolk, Virginia; members of the Houston, Galveston, and Jasper County Police Departments; Texas Departments of Public Safety, and Parks and Wildlife; the US Coast Guard Auxiliary; Louisiana Fish and Wildlife, and the Sabine River Authority.

Phoenix and C&C Technologies provided search equipment and operators. A vast array of underwater search technologies were employed to complete the project as quickly as possible. Sidescan, forward-looking, and multi-beam sonars; laser line scanners; and autonomous underwater search systems were used in conjunction with Navy and civilian dive teams to search murky and tree laden waters thought to contain shuttle debris.

Monitoring Oil from Sunken Tanker
Chelsea Technologies Group recently sold a suite of its UV Aquatrackas to assist in monitoring oil seepage from the sunken tanker Prestige off the northwest coast of Spain. Control Calidad del Medio Marinyo and Epshom are using the instruments to monitor the seepage levels.

The Prestige sunk in November 2002. It is feared that over 50,000 tons of fuel oil remain unstable within the vessel. It was initially hoped that subzero ocean floor temperatures would stabilize the material, but this has not proven to be the case. Environmentalists have warned the wreckage is a "time bomb" about two miles down on the ocean floor.

The UV Aquatracka is a precision in-situ fluorimeter that can detect traces of hydrocarbon product down to depths of 19,680 feet (6,000m). It can be deployed from undulating vehicles, as well as moored or profiling systems, and has built-in test circuitry to ensure stability and accurate measurements.

Salvors Rely on Southern Oceanics Dive System
Miami, Florida-based wreck exploration and salvage organization, RPM Nautical Foundation, recently acquired a new Type SM-5A Containerized Air Dive System from South Africa-based manufacturer, Southern Oceanics. The system is being used for exploration and salvage of old shipwrecks in Mediterranean and US waters.

The Type SM-5A Containerized Air Dive System is fully integrated into one thermally-insulated and fully air-conditioned ISO Class A steel freight container. This allows RPM Nautical Foundation divers to conduct intensive, round-the-clock surface-supplied air diving operations to a depth of 197 feet (60m).

The system comprises a Type 1400 Offshore Diver Decompression Chamber (DDC), fully-equipped dive control station, emergency HP air storage bank for the divers, and HP oxygen storage bank. It requires only an external primary low-pressure air supply and electrical power to be fully operational.

The DDC is ASME PVHO-1 U-stamp certified and fitted out to a high specification. The medical lock, bunks and control panel are all stainless steel. The chamber is equipped with oxygen and carbon dioxide monitoring, primary and secondary communications, CO2 scrubber, hyperbaric fire extinguisher, caisson depth gauge, emergency power supply and primary and secondary air supplies. The dive control station comprises a three-diver bulkhead-mounted stainless steel dive control panel with depth monitoring and primary and secondary air supplies for each diver with independent supplies for the standby diver, a communications console with a three-diver rack-mounted communications set, and a deck and vessel bridge communications system. A writing surface and deck observation window is provided for the diving supervisor.

The HP air storage bank comprises two 200 bar air banks, an 80-cubic-meter capacity unit for the DDC and one 60-cubic-meter capacity unit for the divers with HP cross-connects. The diver air storage banks are further divided into 30-cubic-meters for the two working divers and 30-cubic-meters for the standby diver. Each supply has its own piston-sensed regulator with LP cross-connects.

A safety feature of the system is the 40-cubic-meter HP oxygen storage bank installed in a flush-mounted external steel locker with ventilation grille to prevent oxygen build-up inside the container in case of an oxygen leak. For more, email david@oceaniconline.net.

Titan Maritime and the Spruttenberg Saga
On April 3, 2003, the 330-foot freighter Spruttenberg was waiting in the port of Dellys, Algeria, to load cargo when local authorities instructed the vessel to depart from the port due to bad weather. Shortly after leaving the port, the Spruttenberg ran aground on a shallow beach. The vessel's propeller was half out of the water and no cargo was aboard for lightering.

Two days later, the owners of the Spruttenberg entered into a Lloyds Open Form agreement with salvage specialists Titan Maritime for the salvage of their vessel. A team of six, led by Titan's Senior Salvage Master, Capt. David Stirling, mobilized from Titan's UK salvage response facility. The team traveled to Palma, Spain, where the salvage tug Posejdon had been diverted to collect them.

The salvage vessel was on-site in Algeria within 60 hours of a contract being agreed upon. Working in the difficult environment of Algeria was a concern for the team, and they were comforted by the fact that Titan had successfully salvaged a vessel in Algeria back in 1997.

The Spruttenberg was hard aground when the team arrived. Boarding of the casualty from sea was prevented by heavy surf and swells slamming the port side of the vessel, sending spray to wheel house height.

The team made its way shore side and then traveled by road, under the watchful eyes of two truckloads of armed military personnel who served as escorts, and boarded the vessel from the beach side via an accommodation ladder made accessible by a buildup of sand along the starboard side.

The vessel had a seven-degree list and was aground over her full length, the sea continually rocking her port side. The main engine was disabled; No. 1 wing tanks, port and starboard flooded; No. 2 DB after center and starboard tanks flooded; and No. 2 wing tank starboard and No 3 DB center tanks flooded. The engine room was also leaking.

Armed with only the small amount of emergency salvage equipment flown with the team from the UK to Spain, and knowing any additional equipment would need to be mobilized over the water from Europe, the Titan Salvage Master believed, that with the right plan, his team could make the most of it and succeed in re-floating the vessel with the limited equipment available. Calculating a ground reaction of 1,200 tons, and a remaining ground reaction of 350 tons after de-ballasting, he knew this would not be a case of simply de-ballasting to re-float.

With shallower water and rocks off the bow and stern, a proper survey was conducted to plan the exit route. The salvage plan involved de-ballasting the vessel as much as possible, shifting all the hatch covers as far aft as possible, connecting the Posejdon on the bow and pulling the vessel's head around to the northeast, facing the channel. Once this was completed, the hatch covers would all be shifted as far forward as possible to reduce the ground reaction on the stern.

Having the Spruttenberg in this position would be half the challenge - to fully extract the vessel from her grounded position, the team would need to await another storm. The same high seas and winds that grounded her would now be used to deliver the necessary water to re-float her.

With getting to and from the casualty and tug a challenge, the team spent a number of nights aboard the wreck. Living in harsh conditions with little food or water and only primitive sanitation conditions aboard, the team traded cigarettes in exchange for bread from the soldiers who guarded them. Sleep was all but impossible, as the vessel continued to be slammed by seas on her port side.

The salvage team successfully pumped the vessel's fuel ashore to tank trucks, and with the hatch covers shifted aft, the Salvage Master (in an effort described by him as "like trying to heard cats") orchestrated a fleet of bulldozers on the beach to dig and push in aiding the movement of the ship's bow from 115 degrees to 35 degrees. The stern was still aground and a large rock was pinned against the Spruttenberg's rudder.

Now pointed in the right direction, and with all of the hatch covers moved as far forward as possible, with the aid of 25 knot winds and eight-foot seas, the vessel was pulled free from the beach on the morning of April 16th. With six double bottom and wing tanks open to the sea (resulting in only the tank tops keeping the vessel afloat) and salvage pumps rigged for continuous pumping of the engine room, the Titan Maritime team anxiously waited for the Algerian gun boat that circled them to give the go-ahead to proceed under tow to dry dock.

After maintaining the Spruttenberg afloat under salvage conditions for five days, the vessel was cleared by Algerian authorities and the ship was towed to dry dock in Cartagena, Spain, where she was successfully delivered to owners on April 24th.

Hunley Crew Rests in Peace The eight-member crew of the Hunley, who perished at sea nearly 140 years ago, wil finally be put to rest in a ceremony scheduled for April 17, 2004, at Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina. The Hunley Commission and Friends of the Hunley announced that the burial, with full military honors, will be preceded by a memorial period, during which personal information and facial reconstructions of the crew will be released.

"A team of scientists are now at work on facial reconstructions and genealogical research," said South Carolina Senator Glenn McConnell, Chairman of the Hunley Commission. "During the days leading up to the burial, we will release a visual of each crewmember's face along with all the information we have on his life and legacy."

Warren Lasch, Chairman of Friends of the Hunley, the private group raising funds for the study and conservation of the Confederate submarine, said the crew will be able to at last rest in peace. The crew will be buried next to those who lost their lives on two previous Hunley missions. "These were men of great courage and achievement. Our plan is to honor them and tell their stories to the world," Lasch said.

Officials expect tens of thousands of people will come to Charleston to witness next year's historic event, which has been called the last Confederate burial. "Bravely they sacrificed. Gratefully we remember. Finally, they will be back in port together. Their long, long voyage home is over, and peace is theirs on American soil," McConnell said. Nearly 140 years ago, on February 17th, 1864, a volunteer crew of eight men entered the experimental vessel with the mission of sinking the USS Housatonic. After ramming a spar torpedo into the hull of Housatonic, exploding it and sinking the vessel in a matter of minutes, the Hunley headed home.

Lt. Dixon, the Hunley's commander, opened the forward hatch and displayed a blue light to their compatriots on shore, the signal of a successful mission. Soon after, for reasons that are still unknown, the submarine and all hands onboard disappeared without a trace.

The fate and location of the Hunley and her crew remained a mystery for over 130 years. In 1995, Clive Cussler and his organization, NUMA, located her, and on August 8, 2000, she was raised from the ocean floor. The Hunley was essentially a time capsule, holding the remains and personal belongings of the crewmen, as well as many valuable artifacts. Since she was raised, a major goal has been to give the eight crewmembers a proper burial.

"Our goal is to have as much information as possible about the crewmen available to the public before they are laid to rest. They will not be strangers, but men whose faces we recognize and whose personal histories we can honor," Lasch said.

The funeral procession will start with a ceremony at 10:00 a.m. on April 17 at White Point Gardens, along the battery in downtown Charleston. The ceremony will be approximately an hour long, and will honor those who lost their lives on both the USS Housatonic and the Hunley. Immediately following the ceremony, the procession will start its 4.5-mile journey, as the crew is walked through downtown Charleston to Magnolia Cemetery. During the service, the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion's 1861 prayer book will be used, as it was during the burial of the first crew. This prayer book belonged to Father Toomer Porter, chaplain to the Confederate troops in Charleston during the Civil War, and most likely would have been used in 1864 if the funeral had been held then.

A series of speaking events will take place around the time of the funeral so that the public can learn more about the crew and their personal histories. There will also be Hunley Lantern Walks at Magnolia Cemetery. Though the burial procession will be open to the public, other events and Lantern Walks will require tickets.

During the last two years, scientists have been excavating the submarine and her contents at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston. The discoveries included the remains of all eight crewmembers, including their Captain, Lt. George E. Dixon. The crewmembers will be laid to rest in the same plot next to their comrades who also lost their lives on two earlier efforts to launch the submarine.

Historians discovered the remains of the Hunley's first crew in June of 1999, during an archaeological dig beneath the stands in The Citadel's football stadium. On March 25, 2000, thousands of visitors came to Magnolia Cemetery to bury the five crewmembers with full military honors. They were buried alongside the Hunley's second crew. Hunley Commission member Randy Burbage predicted even greater interest in the coming burial of the final crew. "The Hunley crewmembers are the last who served the Confederacy to come home to be laid to rest. This is our final opportunity to show them the honor, respect and admiration war heroes of all generations deserve." For more information, visit www.hunley.org or call Friends of the Hunley at 843-722-2333.

Seaeye Tiger Aids Helicopter Salvage
A Seaeye Tiger ROV was key in helping the Russian Navy Rescue Service during a two-week operation to locate and recover a Pacific Fleet Ka-27 naval helicopter and crew that was lost in the Sea of Japan. This was the first operation of its kind to bring together the Russian Navy's new equipment, technology, and procedures acquired under the 2002 Navy Search and Rescue Support System Development Program, initiated following the Kursk submarine disaster. This program included the purchase of two of Hydrovision's Venom work-class and seven Seaeye Tiger observation-class ROV systems, as well as one atmosphere diving suits and specialist salvage tools.

During this Sea of Japan operation, a Seaeye Tiger fitted with a sector scanning sonar and video suite was initially used to locate and conduct a video survey of the helicopter wreckage in 236 feet (72m) of water. The ROV video survey was invaluable in helping the salvage team find the helicopter's three crew members salvage, planning the salvage process, and providing a record of the situation for later accident investigation purposes.

The Seaeye Tiger was then used to direct a manned submersible to the wreck site and provided support to Russian Navy divers as they recovered the helicopter. The Tiger ROV was operated by 2nd rank Captain S. Vassel, a specialist from the 40th Government Research Institute of the Russian Federation Defense Ministry, and ROV Pilot Technician, A. Yakovlev of Tetris Pro Ltd., Moscow.

The ROV's four-function manipulator was used to recover the bodies of the three crew members, as well as smaller pieces of the wreck. The Navy reports that their Seaeye ROV systems proved invaluable in these water depths where strong currents, high seas, and very poor visibility were encountered.

"The Tiger's power, ease of operation, and reliability - together with the sensors and tools - far exceeded our expectations in the very demanding conditions that we encountered in the Navy's first ROV operation of this kind" said Captain Vassel. "The success of the Tiger system proved the benefits of the Navy Search and Rescue Support Service's technical upgrade."

For more information, visit www.seaeye.com, or email Alexei Panferov, CEO of Tetis Pro, at panferov@tetis.ru.

Northern Divers Aids Mackinac Project
It was a perfect day - clear skies and calm, smooth water. Perfect for sinking a ship.

At just after 4:00 p.m., on April 10, 2003, the 77-year-old steel-hulled car ferry dubbed the Straits of Mackinac was sunk four miles east of Evanston and 10 miles northeast of Navy Pier in Lake Michigan.

Frank Frosolone, owner of Northern Divers USA and Master General Contractors of South Elgin, Illinois, contributed hundreds of hours and several thousand dollars in materials to prepare the ship as a diver friendly, environmentally safe dive site. Frosolone and his team, Claude Jewell (Illinois Institute of Diving), Bill Bailey (Fantaseas Dive), and Mark Finkler, watched the near perfect sinking from a barge donated by Holly Marine.

The Straits of Mackinac filled slowly with water from the open seacocks until it took water in through 12 holes cut into her sides. When the waters of Lake Michigan came over the deck, she dropped stern-first, then straightened out, settling upright and level on the bottom, 77 feet (23m) deep.

The sinking project drew quite a lot of attention. Her final voyage was covered by six television networks, with the final minutes carried live by NBC from a helicopter. Onboard a viewing barge were NBC's Al Brown and Watermark Pictures' Joe Schambers.

Frosolone provided materials and expertise during much of the preparation on the Straits of Mackinac, along with recruiting 40 apprentice volunteers that cleared out the coal bins and all loose material from inside the ship. After additional cleaning and power washing of loose paint, Frosolone and his team did additional cutting and welding of doors and the seacocks and prepped the ship for the commercial asbestos removal crew.

A vital part of the sinking plan was donated by Ozinga Concrete. With the material and coal removal, ballast was needed in the keel to stabilize the ship and keep her upright during her final voyage. Ozinga donated 93,000 pounds of concrete that went into the keel to provide the needed ballast.

At a Chicago technical conference and film show in April, Claude Jewell and Bo Harper, Midwest NAUI representative, hosted a NAUI presentation honoring those involved in the project with a Certificate of Appreciation for their time, effort, funding, and enthusiasm.

The Mackinac Project still needs additional funds to cover expenses. The underwater work was donated by Northern Divers USA, but expenses for the work barge and tug still need to be covered. Artifacts from the vessel, including portholes and pieces of coal, are being used in the fundraising efforts. A small fee to dive the site has also been proposed. If you would like to help, contact the Illinois Institute of Diving at 800-469-3483.

FSU Diving Students Examine SS Tarpon Wreck
The SS Tarpon, a twin screwed steam ship, was constructed in 1887 in Wilmington, Delaware, by shipbuilders Pusey and Jones. Originally christened the Naugatuck, the ship had an iron hull measuring 130 feet, with a beam of 26 feet. The superstructure and passenger areas were constructed of wood, and she was powered by twin steam engines driving iron screws.

After being sold by the original owner, the ship was sent back to the manufacturer in 1891. Her hull was lengthened by an additional 30 feet and she was renamed the Tarpon.

In 1902, The Pensacola, St Andrews, and Gulf Steamship Company purchased the vessel and sent Captain Willis Green Barrow to take command, beginning a partnership that would last more than 30 years. Captain Barrow and the Tarpon quickly established a name for themselves, sailing weekly runs from the ports of Mobile, Pensacola, St. Andrews Bay, Apalachacola, and Carrabelle 1,735 times.

On August 30, 1937, the Tarpon was loaded in the port of Mobile, taking on 200 tons of cargo and 31 souls, including the crew. She sailed to the port of Pensacola and departed en-route to Panama City on the evening of August 31, 1937.

As the ship rounded the Pensacola sea buoy, her freeboard was less than five inches, the Captain being known for loading as much cargo as would fit in the steamer. The forecast called for calm seas on this trip, but the wind picked up as the Captain retired for the night and turned the helm over to second mate William Russell.

During the night the ship began to take on water as the sea state progressively worsened. Several times cargo was jettisoned in attempts to stabilize the ship, and eventually the decision to head for land was made by first mate LE Danford. However, this decision was rescinded by Captain Barrow and he had more cargo jettisoned as he brought the ship back on course. The Tarpon by this time had taken on so much water that she began to sink. Captain Barrow gave the order to abandon the ship.

The ship went down quickly, taking most of those below decks with her. The sea state was so severe the crew was only able to free one lifeboat, which capsized and left them floating among debris as the weather began to clear.

As visibility improved, oiler Adley Baker sighted land and began to swim the nearly ten miles to shore. Baker emerged from the surf after 25 hours in the water, and was soon picked up by a passing motorist and brought to Panama City, Florida, where the wreck was finally reported.

Only 13 survived the sinking. Captain Barrows was not among them. In 1997, the site was designated Florida's sixth Underwater Archaeological Preserve.

In March 2003, underwater anthropology students and staff from Florida State University's Academic Diving Program conducted a site assessment under the direction of Florida State University underwater archeologist and professor, Dr. Michael Faught.

The SS Tarpon is lying in 95 feet (29m) of water on a sand bottom. Visibility at the site was from 20 to 30 feet horizontally on the bottom, with divers clearly visible over 65 feet vertically in the water column.