TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale Salvages 38' Donzi Sunk at Pier 66

On the heels of the 4th of July Holiday weekend a 38' Donzi was discovered sunk in a slip at Ft. Lauderdale's famous Pier 66 Marina. The discovery was made by a United States Coast Guard small boat crew while on routine patrol in the early morning hours of July 5th.

Although the day was cloudy and rainy, the spirit of the TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale salvage crew was not dampened. The Salvage Master, Chris Stevens responded to the scene with the company's sunken vessel response unit; an enclosed trailer housing a significant amount of salvage gear ranging from lift bags, to pumps, to patching materials and equipment. Another crewmember responded in a 31' twin diesel tug equipped with additional salvage gear. Once on scene, divers rigged lift bags to the casualty while the pumps were staged and primed. A high volume compressor was used to inflate the lift bags and two of the company's gas powered dewatering pumps were used to pump the majority of the water from the vessel. "One of the final steps that we take when refloating a boat of this size" states Salvage Master Stevens "is to remove small deck hatches and place smaller electric pumps in the bilge spaces to insure the boat is completely dewatered, this step has helped us to clearly identify the source of the flooding in many cases throughout the years." The boat was ultimately towed to a boat ramp and loaded on a trailer. TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale arranged for the haul out and immediate service in an effort to preserve the value of the casualty.

TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale has performed thousands of salvage operations since 1989. To learn more about their prompt, professional and ethical salvage services, log on to the salvage page of the company's website at http://www.towboatusftlauderdale.com