Photos Courtesy of ReelBoating.com
Fast Thinking prevents 42' Bertram from Sinking
In a Busy Shipping Port
On January 8, 2010 the U.S. Coast Guard station Fort Lauderdale reported a 42' Bertram on fire in Port Everglades with 3 people aboard. Captain Christian Denhard of TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale had been patrolling the Inlet and arrived on scene just two minutes later. Captain Denhard promptly got the vessel in tow while a Fort Lauderdale Police Marine Unit vessel got the 3 passengers to safety. At the same time, the administrative staff of TowBoatU.S. Fort Lauderdale placed an emergency call to Dania Beach Fire Rescue to have a fire truck dispatched to the Coast Guard station inside Port Everglades. Captain Denhard proceeded to tow the vessel with plans to rendezvous with the Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Boat. The boat was towed in circles while the fireboat attempted to put out the blaze; for much of this time, one of the main engines on the casualty was still running and in gear. When Captain Denhard determined the boat was about to sink, he promptly got permission to beach the vessel on a shallow area adjacent to the Coast Guard Station. The vessel was beached and a Dania Beach Fire Rescue truck successfully extinguished the blaze. TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale dispatched their 38' landing craft that is always standing by at Lauderdale Marina just a short distance away; their crew deployed containment boom to ensure no pollution entered the water. A crew member of TowBoatU.S. was dispatched to keep a safety and security watch on the casualty overnight, and the next morning the vessel was towed to a repair facility where it was hauled out and the investigation into the cause commenced.
When asked about the operation, Supervisor Christian Denhard stated "We train for this type of situation regularly. Our number one priority in the event of a vessel fire is the safety of the people on board. Once the people are safe, we always get the vessel into shallow water or alongside a dock with minimal risk of collateral damage where the blaze can be fought without the risk of sinking the boat in an unrecoverable depth which in turn will allow investigators to attempt to determine the cause of the fire."
TowboatU.S. Fort Lauderdale has successfully completed thousands of salvages on burning and sinking boats in its 20 year history. Please contact Barney Hauf at 954-783-7821 or via email at barney@towboatusftlauderdale.com for more information on the company and the salvage services that they provide.
