Vessel Assist San Diego Salvages a Sunken Nordhavn 75 EYF in Mexico - Photo Vessel Assist San Diego

Vessel Assist San Diego routinely performs some pretty amazing salvage work, but refloating a 150-ton Nordhavn 75 EYF that sank in its slip in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, was an especially prodigious effort since it required driving all the proper salvage equipment 24 hours down the Mexican penninsula.

You can read the full story here on Vessel Assist San Diego’s blog, but the basics are that a failed bait tank pump sank the gorgeous Nordhavn right at the dock, which, believe it or not, is where most sinkings occur.  Various online discussion fora have debated the actual how-and-why of the sinking, but the real mystery is why the boat wasn’t alarmed properly, with local emergency contacts available to respond.  Perhaps a reader with that information will enlighten us in the comments.

In any event, the Vessel Assist salvage team, consisting of Captain Robert Butler and his brother Salvage specialist Tom Butler, Captain Shane Thompson, Captain Greg Rood and Salvage Diver Augustine Malfavon, essentially accomplished the job in 10 hours, using a combination of high-flow “trash” pumps moving about 90,000 gallons per hour, and another 60,000 pounds of float bags.  According to Vessel Assist, they also managed to prevent any significant leakage of the nearly 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel aboard.

Vessel Assist San Diego Team in Front of Salvaged Nordhavn 75 EYF - Photo Vessel Assist San Diego

It’s nice to know what can be done when necessary, and who to call to get it done.

Copyright © 2011 by OceanLines LLC.  All rights reserved.

Sunken Nordhavn 56 Motorsailer Under Salvage by Vessel Assist -- Photo: Vessel Assist

Vessel Assist San Diego has reported that it successfully salvaged a new 56′ yacht that sank after being accidentally dropped during offloading from its delivery ship.  The company did not specifically identify the brand of yacht but photos appearing with the article clearly show that the yacht is a Nordhavn 56 Motorsailer.  According to Vessel Assist, the 50-ton yacht sank in about 35 feet of water on Saturday morning, June 27, 2009.  The company managed to raise the boat from the bottom using float bags and then towed it to a nearby facility where, on Sunday, the boat was hoisted out of the water. 

Sunken Nordhavn 56MS Being Prepared for Lift -- Photo: Vessel Assist

Photos posted on the Vessel Assist blog site show the extent of the damage to the hull of the new motorsailer.  You can read the entire story of the salvage effort here, at the Vessel Assist blog.

Salvaged Nordhavn 56MS Shows Accident Damage to Hull -- PHoto: Vessel Assist

Word on the street says that PAE has already taken exceptionally good care of the customer involved.  OceanLines has asked Nordhavn for more information on the accident and we will report that as soon as the company responds.

Copyright © 2009 OceanLines LLC