T&T Salvage completes Great Lakes OPA 90 response

Cargo lightering used grounded ship's own self-unloading conveyor

MAY 4, 2015 — T&T Salvage was activated under its Salvage and Marine Firefighting Agreement to respond to a 600 foot laker that recently went aground on the St Mary’s River near DeTour Village, MI.

“The vessel was hard aground but stable,” said Jim Elliott, T&T’s Vice President, “We immediately dispatched a team from our Great Lakes Response Center and mobilized prepositioned response equipment in the region.”

T&T Salvage’s naval architects and salvage master then developed a comprehensive salvage and lightering plan to ensure the safety of the ship, crew and responders, while protecting the environment.

Once the salvage plan was approved by the Coast Guard and with T&T salvage personnel overseeing operations onboard the ship, cargo lightering commenced using the ship’s self-unloading conveyor and a subcontracted Inland Lakes receiving vessel. Successfully refloating as planned, without pulling force from tugs, the ship was redelivered to owners the same afternoon and, once cleared by class surveyors, the cargo was reloaded, and the vessel proceeded on her voyage.

T&T Salvage, a member of the Teichman Group, operates one of the most extensive emergency response networks in the world, including the Great Lakes Response Center that is classified as an Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO) and recognized as a Salvage and Marine Firefighting service provider by the U.S. Coast Guard.