RESPONSE OPERATIONS TO THE UNION FAITH RELEASE

摘要

On August 4, 1999, U.S. Coast Guard MarineSafety Office (MSO) New Orleans pollution investigators respondedto a chronic sheen appearing adjacent to the Riverwalk,New Orleans' popular riverfront shopping and tourist destination.The oil eventually was identified surfacing near the middleof the Mississippi River. A bottom survey conducted by the MSOand U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) utilizing sidescanningsonar, magnetometers, and fathometers identified alarge anomaly that was later determined to be the Taiwaneseflaggedfreighter Union Faith. On April 6, 1969, this vessel hadbeen involved in a tragic collision and subsequently sank with anestimated 6,000 barrels of bunker fuel onboard.Removing heavy oil from a badly deteriorated wreck with zerovisibility and dangerous currents proved an enormous challenge.Repeated attempts to locate the source of oil within the ship'smaze of holds were unsuccessful and internal recovery effortsproved extremely problematic. External hull operations weredetermined to be the most effective way to remove the oil. Thisstrategy entailed charting the boundaries of the trapped oil andthen cold tapping through the hull at strategic locations. Aspecially designed drilling and pumping apparatus was thensubsequently placed at these cold tapped areas. Also, threeinternal tanks were accessed externally and emptied of theircontents.Other obstacles to overcome were staging a diving supportplatform in the middle of a congested waterway serving one of thebusiest ports in the world, sensitivity to a ship designated as a“watery grave” for 26 deceased mariners, and managing a highlevel of publicity/scrutiny surrounding an effort of this scaleunderway directly in front of a major tourist attraction, cruiseship moorings, ferryboat landings, and a local TV station'scorporate office.