The United States Navy on Monday said it will start the salvaging of the USS Guardian on February 1  after it has completed the “defueling” of the minesweeper that ran aground at the Tubbataha Reef two weeks ago.

In a statement, the US Navy said two heavy, lift ship-borne cranes will help extricate the USS Guardian from the reef, which was declared as a World Heritage site and a protected area.

It added that the Guardian’s commanding officer and technical experts from among its crew remained on-scene near the reef to work with the recovery team, in coordination with the Coast Guard, the Philippine Navy and local environmental agencies.

“A US Navy-led salvage team has removed the bulk of fuel oil and materials that could pose environmental risks, such as paint, solvents, and lubricants from mine countermeasures ship USS Guardian, which ran aground on the Tubbataha Reef January 17,” the US Navy said in a statement.

It added that “no fuel has leaked since the grounding, and all of the ship’s approximately 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel was safely transferred to the U.S.-contracted Malaysian tug-boat, the Vos Apollo during controlled defueling operations completed on Jan. 25.”

The same amount of fuel has been pumped back into the ship’s tanks to prevent it from sinking

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A salvage team will begin towing stranded oil tanker Pratibha Cauvery, which ran aground as Cyclone Nilam slammed into Chennai last Wednesday, from the city's shores on Thursday afternoon. A tug will start the operation to recover the ship around 3pm, when tides are expected to be high. The vessel lost anchor after being hit by huge waves and drifted towards Elliot's Beach, where it hit the shore. Six sailors drowned in an attempt to escape from the ship. The vessel later drifted north and is currently located around half a nautical mile from Marina Beach.
Vijai Saxena, head of the naval architecture department at Pratibha Shipping Company, the vessel owner, said a ninemember team from maritime company Smit International, Singapore, has planned the salvage operation with data from the Indian Naval Hydrographic Department's tide table.
"The table predicts the waters that the ship is stranded in will be reach a height of 1.1 metres at 3pm on Monday," Saxena "If the high tide does not materialise as expected, the operation will be deferred to Friday, when the tide forecasts the water level at 1.03 metres at 4.55 pm."
He said the team is taking into account various factors including wind direction and possible damage to the vessel while planning the operation. "The tug will tow the ship bowfirst towards the sea," he said.
"The salvage team will have to tow out the ship carefully to prevent further damage to the keel or propellers," said a senior official of the directorate-general of shipping. Once the ship is taken out to sea, divers will photograph the hull, keel and propellers to assess the extent of damage caused by the ship running aground, he added, Experts said the salvage team will face a major challenge in manoeuvring the ship out to sea while ensuring that it does not tilt and capsize, an outcome that would not only damage the vessel but also result in the possible leak of the heavy fuel on board.
Officials said nearly 10,000 tons of ballast water will be drained out to make the vessel light. "It is already free of cargo. Reducing the ballast will make it easier for the vessel to float in high tide," an official said. Ballast water is used to stabilise vessels, especially large ships that carry cargo.
The directorate-general of shipping official said the salvage team is confident that it will be able to extricate the ship with the tug Malaviya. Another tug sent by the directorategeneral of shipping in Mumbai is heading for Chennai to provide additional towing power if needed.

Source: The Times of India

During a refloating operation just out of Sandgerdi, Iceland a small tug capsizes. Luckliy there were no casualties.
Note: this footage was recorded in June 2009.