Resolve Marine has its 400-ton shear-leg barge heading to a remote reef off Puerto Rico to remove a luxury sailing vessel, hard aground for a month and still posing a pollution hazard to marine life, Coast Guard officials said.
The 164’x54’ RMG 400 is being towed by a tugboat from Baltimore, Md., to Culebra, Puerto Rico, where the 72’ sailing catamaran Obsession went aground off Flamenco Beach July 21.
The crane barge is expected to arrive before the end of August. Once in place, the RMG 400 a-frame can do a “clean lift” to remove the vessel, Coast Guard officials said. The responders are keeping a close watch on tropical weather systems.
“Fortunately, the passing of Tropical Storm Ernesto did not affect conditions at the work site, as the vessel Obsession remains aground and stable with no signs of external pollution,” said Chief Warrant Officer Jamie Testa, Sector San Juan Federal On-Scene coordinator.
“As we wait for arrival of the crane barge, we continue to work with the experts from Resolve Marine, Clean Harbors LLC, Sea Tow, the vessel owner, and our local and federal partner agencies who have been fully invested in taking every possible measure to protect the environment and minimize any further impacts to the reef and surrounding marine life.”
Resolve Marine and Clean Harbors, LLC crews completed the bulk removal of around 1,500 gals. of diesel from the four fuel tanks and a day tank July 31.
But they estimated a substantial threat remained from remaining oil and other hazardous material, with tanks, machinery spaces and access hatches submerged or inaccessible.
Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan received a VHF Channel 16 distress communication from the British Virgin Islands-flagged Obsession at 7:51 p.m. July 21, reporting the vessel had run aground with four people on board and was taking on water at st off Flamenco Beach.
Coast Guard crews and a Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces marine unit found the the vessel hard aground on a reef in shallow water. There were no injuries, and the Obsession’s occupants initially chose to remain on board while attempting to the vessel to attempt to dewater the vessel.
A Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Borinquen delivered two dewatering pumps to the vessel. As response continued, it was found that one of the vessel’s pontoons had been breached, and while that the vessel fuel tanks remained intact an extensive recovery effort was required.
The vessel owner asked the Coast Guard for help after “his attempts to hire a commercial salvage company to remove the vessel were unsuccessful and required efforts which exceeded his capacity to resolve the matter,” according to the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard then activated the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and contracted Resolve Marine, which subcontracted Clean Harbors, and the companies began moving equipment and personnel to Culebra to conduct the fuel removal operation.
An emergency federal Endangered Species Act consultation was initiated to identify risks to protected species including Green, Kemp’s Ridley, Leatherback, and Hawksbill sea turtles; giant manta ray, oceanic whitetip shark, scalloped hammerhead, Nassau grouper, Queen conch; and boulder, elkhorn, lobed star, mountainous star, pillar, staghorn, and rough cactus corals. There were no reported impacts to marine life in the area, pending the reef damage assessment.
