Salvage team begins cutting of USS Guardian’s engine room

MANILA, Philippines – The USS Guardian dismantling operation continued during the weekend in preparation for the cutting of the US Navy minesweeper’s engine room, according to the spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard.

Lieutenant Commander Armand Balilo, also chief of the PCG’s public affairs office, on Sunday said the US Navy-contracted salvage team was “in the process of clearing the USS Guardian’s engine room and the lower deck of equipment, loose materials and debris.”

In a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, he also disclosed that “good weather in the Tubbataha Reef (in the Sulu Sea) has allowed the salvage operation to progress.”

“Wind speeds of 10 to 15 knots and waves of 0.6 to 1 meter are prevailing in the reef area,” noted Balilo.

The salvage team “has dismantled over 50 percent of the USS Guardian,” said the Coast Guard’s Palawan district in a report to the PCG headquarters in Manila.

The Coast Guard search-and-rescue vessel BRP Romblon (SARV 3503) is closely monitoring the salvage operation, led by the main crane ship Jascon 25, according to Balilo.

Seven other ships were in the vicinity: the US Navy supply ship Wally Schirra, USS Salvor, crane ship SMIT Borneo, barge Seabridge S-700, tugs Archon Tide and Intrepid, and the Malayan tow vessel Trabajador 1.

Last week, the USS Guardian’s four engines, as well as its two diesel generators and fantail cranes, were successfully removed and transferred to the Seabridge by the Jascon 25.

The salvage team is expecting favorable weather conditions in the reef area in the next three to four days that would allow it to continue work on the 68-meter US Navy vessel, which ran aground on the reef on January 17.

The ship dismantling operation began on February 22 but was suspended at least four times due to bad weather.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jerry E. Esplanada | Philippine Daily Inquirer | March 17, 2013 | Article Link

Salvage ops for USS Guardian half-way done - Task Force Tubbataha

Salvage crew for USS Guardian

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – Salvage operations for the grounded USS Guardian at the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) has now accomplished around 50-percent of its target, Task Force Tubbataha (TFT) said Monday.

Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista, head of the TFT and commander of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-Palawan District, said, "We are expecting calm weather in the next three to four days so work will continue on the USS Guardian by the Task Force."

As of Monday, the salvors had cleared pipes and vents at the funnel base of the USS Guardian; lifted remaining portions of the funnel base section at the port side; and cleared all types of interference at the auxiliary machinery room and main machinery room.

They also worked and prepared all machineries at the AMR and MMR for removal; transferred additional hydraulic power unit to the USS Guardian; and opened the top containers for loading of debris.

The 50-percent accomplishment, he added, includes the preparation and mobilization of the salvage operation.

A spokesman for the US Navy said salvage costs have so far totalled more than a million dollars.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Donna Jean M. Genilan | Phlippines News Agency | March 12, 2013 | Article Link

MDSU 1 safely removes funnel of USS Guardian

130226-N-VF350-235

SULU SEA (Feb. 25, 2013) Sailors from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 1 and U.S. Navy contracted salvage crew members from the M/V Jascon 25 safely remove the exhaust funnel structure from the mine countermeasures ship USS Guardian (MCM 5). Guardian ran aground on the Tubbataha Reef Jan. 17. The funnel's removal was a milestone in the dismantling process of the Guardian. 

The U.S. Navy and contracted salvage teams are safely dismantling and removing the ship from Tubbataha Reef. 

The U.S. Navy continues to work in close cooperation with the Philippine authorities to safely dismantle Guardian from the reef while minimizing environmental effects.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Anderson | U.S. Navy | February 25, 2013 | Article Link