The US Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) successfully removed 229,000 gallons of oil from the sunken World War II vessel, ex-Prinz Eugen located in the Kwajalein Atoll.
The project needed two years of research and planning to prepare for the unprecedented removal of oil from up to 173 tanks of a heavy cruiser warship.
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Before removing the oil, SUPSALV’s Emergency Ship Salvage Material oil spill response team selected, assembled and deployed the right combination of equipment, tools and consumables to support the operation.
The load-out included “hot tap” oil extraction systems, submersible pumping systems, oil spill response resources, tank close-out and patching supplies.
A market search was also carried out to identify and charter the oil tanker ‘Humber’ to collect the recovered petroleum product and transport it for disposal or recycling, when the operation had ended.
Humber was located positioned above the ex-Prinz Eugen, to remove the oil. This task was challenging because the wreck was very close to the shore. This could have not allowed the ships to drop the shoreward anchors due to shallow depth.
However, SUPSALV used the US Army Garrison – Kwajalein Atoll’s harbor tug Mystic, to collect the anchors at the pier and drop them in place. This enabled the ship to finalize their four-point moor over ex-Prinz Eugen.
Each oil-filled, accessible tank was hot tapped, pumped free of recoverable oil, and sealed to prevent any leakage.
These actions ensured that the wreck, a popular dive site, is safe for continued recreational diving and the Atoll is safe from the risk of significant oil spill from ex-Prinz Eugen
The US Navy said.
