Rough seas delay work on Guardian

From the Manila Standard Today (Feb 3): Rough seas delay work on Guardian

Strong winds and rough seas have hampered salvaging work on the United States minesweeper which ran aground at the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, officials said on Saturday.

Coast Guard officials said they are not certain when the removal of the 68-meter USS Guardian will be completed because of the wind and sea conditions.

“There is no time table for the salvage operation. The controlling factor is really the sea condition,” said Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista, commander of the Coast Guard Palawan District.

He said bad weather also caused the delay of the arrival of one of the crane ships that were contracted by the US government to help extricate the US Navy minesweeper stuck in the World Heritage site since January 17.

But Evangelista said the Coast Guard is expecting the crane ship Smit Borneo to arrive from Singapore today and work should start soon after, but that will also depend on sea conditions since waters at Tubbataha Reef can be rough to very rough in the afternoon because the northeasterly winds.

“We are in full blast but it is hampered because of unfavorable sea condition. We [only] expect sea conditions to improve starting March,” said Evangelista. “US officials would not want to delay the operation because they will be the ones to pay the salvor ship.”

He said the diving season in Tubbataha Reef is from March to July. “The work for salvage operation will be favorable on March, but we will proceed this month. If there is a need to stop for safety reasons, we will stop,” he added.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/02/03/rough-seas-delay-work-on-guardian/