Salvage News

Marine salvage is a risky business financially and physically and is governed by complex legal systems, frameworks, and conventions. Over the past two decades the industry has contracted and has consolidated in response to changes which have meant there are fewer marine casualties. That has not been easy for commercial salvors - the members of the International Salvage Union - but improvements in maritime safety that prevent loss of life, loss of property, and damage to the environment…

The ISU has published its annual statistics for 2024, and the headline 2024 numbers show great consistency with the 2023 statistics, continuing with the modest recovery from the low point of 2022.Gross revenue for ISU members was $406 million, up from $398 million in 2023. The number of services provided reached 191, up from 184 the previous year.Lloyd’s Open Form (LOF) was used in 29 cases (2023: 16). LOF revenue was $118 million (2023: $29 million). The previous year had been…

The car carrier Morning Midas sank on June 23 following the fire that broke out on board on June 3.The fire was no longer active, but the vessel sank while awaiting the arrival of a tug with long-distance towing capability.“Damage caused by the fire, compounded by heavy weather and subsequent water ingress, caused the Morning Midas to sink at around 16.35 local time zone (UTC -9) on 23 June, in waters approximately 5,000 meters deep and 360 nautical miles from land,” said ship manager Zodiac Maritime.The vessel reportedly had 350 metric tons of marine gas oil and 1…

“You cannot be a leader if you don’t know what is going on,” says Rik van Hemmen, President of marine consulting firm Martin & Ottaway.van Hemmen, writing in the June issue of Maritime Reporter magazine, recounts of some of his experiences in oil spill response to demonstrate that it’s a truth that is not always recognized.On one salvage operation, a high-ranking government official was laughed out of the room after loudly proclaiming: “I am in charge now, and nothing happens until I say so.” The next thing he said was: “So what are you going to do?” The response?

There are a few stories that I often tell when the subject of leadership in disasters is discussed. I figured I’d put them down on paper so I can stop repeating myself.It was pre OPA90, a single-skin tanker had run over a rock in the Port of New Jersey. It put a hole in the bottom, and heavy fuel oil was draining out the bottom and would do so until the oil head level in the tank would equalize with the waterline. The tanker would hit bottom at low tide, but the hole was small, and quick action would reduce oil in the harbor.

A salvage team has arrived at the scene of the burning car carrier Morning Midas, located approximately 220 miles south of Adak, Alaska.The US Coast Guard received the initial report of the fire Tuesday, June 3, at approximately 3:15 p.m. and has been working closely with Zodiac Maritime, the vessel's manager, to respond to the incident.The tug vessel, Gretchen Dunlap, arrived on scene with salvage personnel Monday afternoon and has begun a full assessment of the conditions on…

Work to recover the late British tech tycoon Mike Lynch's sunken superyacht off the coast of northern Sicily has been paused following the death of a diver involved in the operations, the company leading the effort said on Saturday.The 56-metre-long (184-foot) Bayesian was moored off the small port of Porticello, near Palermo, in August last year when it was likely hit by a downburst, a very strong downward wind, killing seven people, including Lynch and his daughter Hannah."This…

One of the most powerful heavy-lift vessels ever built is entering a new chapter under U.S. ownership, reconditioned for major offshore work in the Gulf of America. Renamed the TX-10000, this twin-gantry catamaran is at the center of Xenos Marine's mission to expand domestic heavy-lift and decommissioning capabilities, following a major refit at Gulf Copper Ship Repair. The TX-10000, previously known as the VB-10000, has a storied history.Originally commissioned in 2010 by Versabar as a next-generation evolution of the pioneering Bottom Feeder…

The superyacht that sank off Sicily last year, killing British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and six others, will be lifted out of the water next month after its mast is dismantled, people close to the matter said on Tuesday.The recovery of the British-flagged Bayesian, lying on its right side at a depth of around 50 metres (164 feet), could help explain why it went down during a sudden storm off the port of Porticello, near Palermo - an event that has baffled naval experts.The salvage operation will be managed by a joint venture of Dutch companies HEBO Maritiemservice and Smit Salvage…

Tony Siciliano provides a bunch of his friends and I with an invaluable service by sending us daily emails with copies of articles that may be interest to us. This includes an occasional maritime court or regulatory decision. I tend to ignore the court decisions, but a decision with this title piqued my interest: Admiralty Court determines salvage remunerationSD Rebel BV & another -v- Elise Tankschiffahrt KG (VB Rebel) [2025] EWHC 376 (Admty)The decision provides an interesting insight into the difficulties and flaws of determining salvage awards.

The US Coast Guard is coordinating with local, state and federal agencies in response to the helicopter crash in the Hudson River that occurred Thursday afternoon in New York City near the Holland Tunnel.The tourist helicopter crashed into New York City's Hudson River, killing all six aboard, including three children, Mayor Eric Adams said.The victims were believed to have included a family from Spain and the pilot, the mayor said at a briefing.Response boat crews from Coast Guard stations New York…

The search for the wreckage of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean has been suspended due to poor weather conditions and will only resume at the end of the year, Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook said on Thursday.Flight MH370, a Boeing 777, was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014, in one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.The minister, quoted by state news agency Bernama, did not say why such a prolonged delay was required.

The charred remains of the ship that ploughed into a tanker in the North Sea were towed into a Scottish port on Friday (March 28).The ship, Portuguese-flagged Solong, hit the anchored Stena Immaculate, a U.S. military-contracted tanker, on March 10, causing a fire, and forcing both crews to abandon their vessels.Initial concerns of an environmental disaster subsided as assessments showed the jet fuel had mostly burned off and there was no sign of other leaks from either ship.All 23 crew members of the Stena Immaculate and 13 of the 14 crew on the Solong were rescued. A Filipino national and Solong crew member Mark Angelo Pernia, 38, died in the incident.(Reuters)

Xenos Marine recently acquired the VB-10,000 Heavy Lift Vessel which is currently in dry dock in Galveston, Texas. The asset will be renamed TX-10,000 at a christening ceremony in Galveston on March 23, 2025. TX-10,000 is the largest US Flagged and Jones Act compliant Heavy Lift Vessel; a twin-gantry catamaran heavy lift vessel with a 7,500-tonlifting capacity. It is currently undergoing maintenance at the Gulf Copper Shipyard in Galveston, Texas, preparing for her next working season in the Gulf of America.

A fire onboard the Stena Immaculate oil tanker has greatly diminished with no visible flames, as initial salvage activities begin in the North Sea, the manager of the vessel Crowley reported.Crowley said it is working closely with U.K. agencies to support the incident response, salvage and environmental impact mitigation operations resulting from container ship Solong striking the tanker Stena Immaculate while at anchor on Monday, March 10.Worth noting, Solong’s owner has characterized…

Dutch marine provider Boskalis will salvage the U.S.-flagged tanker Stena Immaculate, which was struck by a container ship off northeast England on Monday, a spokesperson said on Tuesday, confirming earlier Dutch media reports.He could not give a time frame for the salvaging but added that four ships carrying foam and extinguishing agents were already en route to put out the fire caused by the collision.Another company would salvage Solong, the other container ship involved in the collision, Boskalis' spokesperson said without specifying which company.The Stena Immaculate was anchored when it

Resolve Marine said it will merge operations, equipment and personnel with the marine division of Construction Solutions International, expanding Resolve Marine Service Centers in the U.S. Gulf region. Construction Solutions International is a regional provider of industrial marine and commercial diving services and supports industries across the Theodore Industrial Canal and West Mobile, Alabama. Founded in 1984 by Jerry W. Bailey Jr., the transaction includes cranes, barges, equipment, the M/V Enterprise, a 64-foot shallow draft river tugboat, her captain and three workers.

Canada’s Marine Communications and Traffic Services received a MAYDAY on Saturday from the MSC Baltic III as it ran aground located approximately 12 nautical miles outside the entrance to Bay of Islands, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.The vessel reported a loss of power, and unable to secure an anchor in the adverse conditions, grounded in Wild Cove west of Lark Harbour. All 20 crew have been airlifted to safety.Weather in the area continues to be a factor as work is underway to assess the situation and determine the next steps.

The section of the Potomac River affected by the Jan. 29 midair collision of an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has now been fully restored, six days ahead of schedule.After aiding in initial rescue and recovery operations, 49 US Army Corps of Engineers subject matter experts worked alongside more than 2,000 responders from 45 private, local, state and federal agencies as they began preliminary assessments required for wreckage removal operations.Pre-staging operations commenced Jan.

Divers from the FBI continue are investigating multiple underwater targets in the Potomac River that could be additional aircraft debris from the collision between a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) RJ Aviation (Bombardier) CRJ700 and a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.The PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 airplane operated as American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan Washington National Airport and the US Army helicopter collided at 8:47 p.m. ET on January 29…

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and U.S. Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), have removed all the major components of the American Airlines regional jet and U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter from the Potomac River.The PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 airplane operated as American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan Washington National Airport and the US Army helicopter collided at 8:47 p.m. ET on January 29…

The superyacht that sank off Sicily last year, killing British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and six others, will be recovered once its mast is dismantled in a salvage operation likely to begin after the middle of April, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.The recovery of the British-flagged Bayesian, lying on its right side at a depth of around 50 meters (164 feet), could help explain why it sank during a severe and sudden storm off the port of Porticello, near Palermo - an event that has baffled naval experts.Twenty-two people were on board…

The NTSB, in coordination with the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage, has recovered the aft fuselage, right engine and right pylon of the Bombardier CRJ700 after its midair collision with a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.The PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 airplane operated as American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan Washington National Airport, and the US Army helicopter collided at 8:47 p.m. ET on January 29, 2025, killing 67 people.The salvage of both aircraft is expected to take several days.