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Office of External Affairs |
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| News Release |
Date: March 7, 2009 Contact: Lt. Tim Tilghman |
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MSU Galveston monitors salvage operations on 900-foot tank ship SKS Satilla |
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GALVESTON, Texas — Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Galveston is continuing to monitor salvage operations on the 900-foot tank ship SKS Satilla, 65 miles south of Galveston, March 7, 2009. The SKS Satilla is currently stable. SMIT Salvage used a remotely operated underwater vehicle to inspect the hull and discovered a large area of structural damage below the waterline on the vessel’s port side. Coast Guard personnel remain on-board to monitor the on-going salvage operation and to investigate the cause of the incident. At approximately 8:20 am Friday, March 6, the SKS Satilla crew reported that the tank ship was suffering an 8-degree port list due to an intake of water into the ship’s ballast tanks. The tank ship is reported to have approximately 41 million gallons of crude oil on board. A Coast Guard patrol boat, the SMIT salvage vessel Northern Canyon, and the oil spill response vessel NRC Admiral are currently on scene with the tank ship. Lightering operations are scheduled to begin Monday, March 9, 2009. “Our primary objectives are to ensure the safety of the crew and those responding to this incident, prevent any loss of oil from the damaged tanker, and to keep the SKS Satilla in a stable condition throughout this operation. With the aid of a remotely operated vehicle, the salvor has located the tank ship’s damage. Our next step is to safely and expeditiously transfer the oil cargo to two awaiting tank ships so that the SKS Satilla can be moved and repaired,” said Cmdr. James Elliott, commanding officer of MSU Galveston. A unified command consisting of the following organizations has been formed:
### Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast Since 1790.
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