PORTSMOUTH, Va.—The 580-foot barge La Princesa remains aground north of Sandbridge Pier in Virginia Beach.
Titan Maritime, LLC, continues preparations for salvaging the vessel and will attempt to begin operations when weather and sea conditions permit.
Members of the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Strike Team, the Virginia Port Authority’s Maritime Incident Response Team, the Virginia Beach Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Team and Crowley Maritime Corporation, the barge’s owner and operator, boarded the vessel earlier today to inspect the cargo for leaks and the vessel for structural integrity.
As a result of the inspection, the Coast Guard, MIRT, the Virginia Beach HazMat team and Crowley determined that the barge and its cargo currently pose no foreseeable threat to the environment or to the community.
Coast Guard personnel remain on-site and will continue to monitor salvage preparations. Tests revealed that no pollutants have been released into the air, and no chemical sheens have been reported on the water.
Friday’s effort by Crowley to ballast the vessel was effective. The barge moved 7 yards overnight and remains 135 yards north of the pier.
The tug and barge were traveling from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Pennsauken, N.J., when the barge broke loose 50 to 100 miles from shore on Friday morning
The massive barge that ran ashore in Sandbridge during the nor'easter will be sticking around a little while longer. Salvage crews went home for the night Monday after installing two of three tow lines that will be attached to three tugs which will try and pull the 580-foot vessel from the beach.
In addition to finishing attaching the tow lines, the crews will also have to pump out seawater added to the barge to weigh it down and prevent it from crashing into a nearby pier.
"When they get ready to tow it they need to pump the water out of the ballast tanks," says Mark Miller, a representative of the owner Crowley. "Once the water comes out of there it will be lighter and we don't want it to get any closer to the pier."
The Coast Guard says the hazardous materials on board are not a threat.
"There remains no threat to the environment or public safety," says the Coast Guard's Scott McBride "Air monitors were also set up over the weekend to ensure that there were no leaks and no leaks have been detected."
If crews do not get lines attached in time for Tuesday morning's high tide at 7:40am their next opportunity to try pulling the barge will be with the high tide at 7:57pm.
Crews remove barge from Sandbridge, Va., beach
Nov 18th, 2009 by cgnews.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Titan Salvage crews successfully pulled the barge La Princesa off Sandbridge beach at 7:48 a.m. Wednesday.
The crews used two tugs pulling together on the bow and stern of the barge at high tide to free it. The barge, which broke free from the tug Sentry Thursday night, grounded on the beach near Little Island Pier Friday morning.
Coast Guard, Crowley and Titan Salvage personnel worked together to remove the barge from the beach while ensuring the safety of the public and environment. Coast Guard inspectors and a member of the American Bureau of Shipping will survey the vessel to ensure that it is seaworthy. Once the survey team is satisfied, the tug Sentry will tow the barge to its next port of call in Pennsauken, N.J.
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