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24 st / July 2014 www.sea-technology.com began. For starters, the only access to the casualty was from a narrow beach 300 meters away, divided from the work site by a constantly shifting seabed. In fact, throughout the project, the mouth of a nearby river kept shifting until the salvors' staging point was completely inundated. "Access to the wreck was very limited," noted Gordon Amos, TITAN's project manager. "Nothing bigger than a rubber boat could get alongside, and it was often danger- ous because of the almost constant presence of high-ocean swell and breaking surf. Not only did the 34,000 tons of cargo have to be brought ashore under these circum- stances, but all of the portable salvage equipment, includ- ing hydraulic chain pullers, each weighing in excess of 10 tons, together with hundreds of meters of heavy chain, large-capacity generators and power packs, had to be placed aboard. It also meant that the team on board could not readily get on or off and con- sequently spent several months working long hours under less than ideal conditions." Despite the challenges–and there always are some–the basic method employed by the salvage team was to simply discharge the cargo to the beach by use of the cranes aboard the wrecked ship, then refoat, tow to deeper waters, scuttle (sink) and scrap the irreparable bulk carrier. They also used a patented aerial téléphérique, or cable carriage, set up between a crane pedestal on the wreck and a 500-tonne crawler crane tower erected ashore–the same, shifting shore 300 meters away. This téléphérique system served TITAN well during the 2008 salvage of the New Ca- rissa freighter that ran aground on a beach near Coos Bay, Oregon, and undoubtedly proved its weight in gold south of the equator. The difference? This time, the aerial tramcar would be used to ferry grain instead of personnel, but the prem- ise remained the same–take to the air those things which you can't move safely across steady, sturdy ground. The té- léphérique hauled the cargo, fve tons at a time. It took 15 to 20 minutes roundtrip and was in operation 24 hours a day until discharge was complete. Soon the salvage team found themselves dealing with hazardous air quality because portions of the cargo had spoiled upon introduction of moisture, causing a bacterial breakdown and generating a severe hydrogen sulfde (H2S) gas hazard aboard the ship and within the transshipment area on the beach. A marine chemist, specializing in sal- vage operations, was present during the project to advise the salvage master on how to protect the salvage crew and sur- rounding environment from these noxious fumes, which not only smelled like rotten eggs and are considered a broad- spectrum poison to all things breathing, but are also explo- sive and highly fammable. Utilizing all available avenues–including land, sea and air–the salvors again employed maritime ingenuity to fab- ricate a pontoon system for ferrying heavy equipment from the beach to the wreck site, carrying grain on its return trip for disposal. This shallow-draft, fat deck "barge" was handmade using TITAN's pneumatic roller bags placed in holds and breached ballast tanks, there it sat, helplessly awaiting its own rescue. Understanding the severity of the wreck and the need to preserve its perishable cargo consisting of wheat and soy beans, the frst urgent attempt at refoating was undertaken, but unfortunately ended shortly thereafter with no success, forcing a declarative total loss of both the vessel and its par- tially submerged cargo. After two months of teetering in the break, the owners, along with their insurers, opened talks for competitive bids from salvors that could preserve and remove the remaining 34,000 tons of rotting grain cargo and pull the wrecked vessel from the Pacifc Ocean beach. Enter TITAN Salvage Because of their vast experience, longevity in the salvage world and impressive portfolio, TITAN (Houston, Texas) and partner T&T; Salvage (Humble, Texas) joined together to sub- mit the winning bid, and shortly thereafter, the challenges (Top) After fve grueling months, TITAN's 50-person salvage team exited the beach with the fnality of another job per- formed safely and successfully. (Middle) The ship was success- fully pulled from the surf zone, refoated, then scuttled some 40 miles offshore. (Bottom) Beachside operations were set up 300 meters from the wreck to receive the airborne, discharged cargo.