Environmental Salvage

A small dive company unsuccessfully attempted to salvage the yacht using scuba gear. It then fell to the U.S. Coast Guard to mitigate the pollution hazard created by the fully-fueled sunken yacht. Matt and his Global Diving coworkers were called in, as was a salvage company based in Florida, to get the unwanted yacht off the seafloor. They loaded equipment on a large “derrick” barge on Mare Island in Vallejo. They then met the barge in Monterey and did mixed-gas diving to 190 feet. Initial plans to recover the entire boat dissolved when the yacht broke into pieces while being lifted, so plans were retooled. The yacht’s diesel engines were removed and their fuel was pumped out underwater. Matt says this kind of work, done quite lot, is called a “hot tap.” Divers drill through a seal they affix to a tank until the drill breaks through the tank wall. The drill bit is then withdrawn and a valve connecting the drill to a tank on the surface is opened. Pumping commences and continues until only water comes through. On this job, crews recovered 500 gallons of fuel without spilling a single drop. Cost for this two week project? A lot!!!