A salvage vessel dwarfs the USS Guardian as work continues to remove the minesweeper from Tubbataha Reef (photo by Elmer Badilla, InterAksyon.com)
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines -- Salvage teams working to extricate the grounded USS Guardian from Tubbataha Reef have succeeded in cutting off the bow of the stricken mine sweeper, Task Force Tubbatah said Tuesday.
Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista, commander of the Philippine Coast Guard Palawan District, said the bow of the ship is now being lifted and will be loaded onto either the SMIT Borneo or the S7000 Seabridge Barge.
On Tuesday, InterAksyon accompanied a flyby mission over Tubbataha by a Philippine Air Force N-22 Nomad.
[Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=byGlK0GknZo]
Although the cutting away of the non-structural part of vessel’s hull is still underway, Evangelista said they consider the salvage operation “almost done,” attributing this to the “supportive” weather conditions.
“Dahil summer na, medyo gumanda-ganda ang panahon kaya medyo napapabilis ‘yung operations sa area (Because it’s already summer, the weather has turned good and helped speed up operations in the area),” Evangelista said.
He said after the Guardian’s hull has been lifted, the salvors will conduct a cleanup of the debris and once the minesweeper has been totally removed, US and Philippine authorities will conduct a joint assessment to determine the extent of the damage to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/58040/video--salvors-separate-bow-of-uss-guardian
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