'USS Guardian' Will Be Dismantled -- US Navy

From the Manila Bulletin (Jan 29): 'USS Guardian' Will Be Dismantled -- US Navy

The "USS Guardian" warship, stuck on Tubbataha Reef for 12 days, will be dismantled, a US Navy (USN) official said Tuesday night. US and Philippine authorities announced last week that the US Navy minesweeper will be removed from the Tubbataha Reef by lifting. But as of last night, a USN official said the warship will, instead, be safely removed "in sections." The official added the operation may take some time, possibly lasting for up to one month.

Earlier in the day, a Philippine military official told the Manila Bulletin "the Task Force Tubbataha is waiting for the USN to submit its final salvage plan," adding adding that "a new option (to remove Guardian from the reef) is now emerging."

He said the option is to break up the ship in place. "The only problem is the public opinion's favorability about the option," he said. The statement was later confirmed by a USN official.

It was learned that the US Navy-led salvage team has been monitoring damage on the ship and that there was "propagation of crack."

Last week, Rear Admiral Thomas Carney, the on-scene commander of the salvage operations, said the USS Guardian's hull had been punctured and several areas of the ship have been flooded.
The repeated pounding of heavy seas on the ship, which hampered recovery efforts in the days immediately following the grounding, has also resulted in the loss of much of the fiberglass coating on the port side.

Carney described the ship as "badly damaged," such that the option to tow the ship is no longer considered.

It can be recalled that USS Guardian ran aground on Tubbataha Reef at 2:25 a.m. on Jan. 17 while transiting the Sulu Sea after it completed a port call in Subic Bay.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/391739/uss-guardian-will-be-dismantled-us-navy