Salvage team to remove main hull of grounded USS Guardian

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 15): Salvage team to remove main hull of grounded USS Guardian

The salvage operation team will be preparing to remove the hull of the grounded USS Guardian as soon as all engines of the minesweeper have been removed, weather permitting.

Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista, Task Force Tubbataha (TFT) chairperson and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-Palawan chief, said Friday over a local radio station here that if the engines and other structures have been completely removed in the next following days, Jascon 25, the main salvor in the salvage operation, will prepare to remove the hull of the navy minesweeper on the South Atoll of Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP).

”Next to be removed after everything is lifted off is the hull. This is the body of the ship that used to support the deckhouse,” he said, adding it will probably take five days to a week to completely remove the hull.

Like earlier, Evangelista said removal of the hull largely depends on the weather prevailing in Tubbataha.

While salvage operations continue in Tubbataha off the island town of Cagayancillo, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) launched on March 13 in Manila a fundraising project for the construction of a new P20-million “dream ranger station” in the protected reef.

In a media release by the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO), it said the the current ranger station, built in 2000, has been battered by storms for more than 10 years.

“Over the years, the Styrofoam-reinforced structure has undergone a litany of repairs to prevent seawater and rain from entering and has also needed additional facilities built, such as a water cistern and septic tank. In the past few years, the upkeep of the structure has become significantly more expensive,” it said.

The plan for the new ranger station came up to provide the Tubbataha’s ranger team a “more modern living space and up-to-date facilities.”

Architect Dylan Melgazo volunteered through WWF-Philippines to visit Tubbataha and assess the condition of the present ranger station and to conceptualize a design for its replacement in 2012.

The design for the new ranger station by Melgazo was unveiled Wednesday during the fundraising project launch at Milky Way Restaurant, Makati City.

The WWF said several companies have already expressed willingness to get involved in the Tubbataha project, particularly after the grounding of the USS Guardian.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=507462