NOAA SHIP LOCATES WRECK OF BOW MARINER TANKER
Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2004 10:26 am
March 2, 2004 — The NOAA ship Rude today found the wreckage of Bow Mariner, a 570-foot tanker that sank 50 nautical miles east of Chincoteague, Va., on Feb. 28, 2004. The ship sank in about 250 feet of water. Rude (pronounced Rudy) is a hydrographic survey ship that supports NOAA’s nautical charting mission; it was part of a NOAA team dispatched to the scene to provide scientific and environmental support in the aftermath of the disaster at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard. Rude used side-scan sonar to locate the sunken ship. (Click NOAA image for larger view of NOAA ship Rude. Please credit “NOAA.”)
“We began the search at daylight today and found Bow Mariner around mid-morning. Because of deteriorating weather conditions and rough seas, the quality of the side-scan imagery of the wreck is not as clear as we had hoped. However, we got one good scan that enabled us to determine which way the ship is lying and its orientation,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tod Schattgen, NOAA Corps, Rude’s commanding officer.
Schattgen said mooring lines from the sunken ship that reached from the bow nearly to the sea surface inhibited further operations in the existing weather conditions. Rude broke off operations around noon because of this and heavy sea conditions. Rude is heading back toward its home port of Norfolk, Va., to refuel and to provide the U.S. Coast Guard, lead agency in the recovery effort, the sonar imagery. Rude will return to the site to do more comprehensive imagery during better sea conditions if the Coast Guard requests it.
The Singapore-flagged Bow Mariner was carrying more than 3.5 million gallons of industrial ethanol and was en route from New York to Houston. NOAA is responding as part of a combined federal and state team led by the U.S. Coast Guard.
“We began the search at daylight today and found Bow Mariner around mid-morning. Because of deteriorating weather conditions and rough seas, the quality of the side-scan imagery of the wreck is not as clear as we had hoped. However, we got one good scan that enabled us to determine which way the ship is lying and its orientation,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tod Schattgen, NOAA Corps, Rude’s commanding officer.
Schattgen said mooring lines from the sunken ship that reached from the bow nearly to the sea surface inhibited further operations in the existing weather conditions. Rude broke off operations around noon because of this and heavy sea conditions. Rude is heading back toward its home port of Norfolk, Va., to refuel and to provide the U.S. Coast Guard, lead agency in the recovery effort, the sonar imagery. Rude will return to the site to do more comprehensive imagery during better sea conditions if the Coast Guard requests it.
The Singapore-flagged Bow Mariner was carrying more than 3.5 million gallons of industrial ethanol and was en route from New York to Houston. NOAA is responding as part of a combined federal and state team led by the U.S. Coast Guard.