Salvors raise bow section of liftboat Seacor Power

A salvage team from Donjon-SMIT has raised the bow section of the sunken liftboat Seacor Power to the surface of the water and transported it by barge to the Modern American Recycling Services’ (MARS) facility in Houma, Louisiana, on Saturday, July 10.

The US Coast Guard said that, with the bow section removed, salvage work continued at the site, where crews conducted additional acoustic surveys of the stern and accommodation sections. The updated surveys will be used to complete the rigging configuration to prepare the stern section for removal.

Once the stern section is raised, the crews will continue the preparation and removal of the accommodations section.

The unified command is closely monitoring the weather and adjusting operations as needed to ensure the safety of salvage crews.

The coast guard safety zone extending one nautical mile around the site and the Federal Aviation Administration temporary flight restriction covering a five-nautical-mile radius around the wreckage site and 2,000-foot (609-metre) minimum altitude will remain in place until salvage operations are complete. Additionally, a temporary flight restriction is in place around the MARS facility.

These restrictions are in place to ensure the safety of salvage crews working at the wreckage site and the MARS facility as well as boaters who could place themselves in danger by transiting through an active work site where debris and other underwater obstructions such as anchor wires, mooring ropes and navigational buoys may be present.

The capsizing incident that claimed the lives of 13 of Seacor Power‘s crew is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).