The beaches are clean, but the hull of a shrimp trawler that wrecked two miles off Anna Maria Island remains on the seabed.
The crew of the Warrior, owned by the Tampa-based Versaggi Shrimp Corp., required rescue from the U.S. Coast Guard the night of Jan. 8 after the vessel began flooding.
Nobody was hurt, but flotsam from the broken-up vessel was littered across island beaches.
With help from Manatee County, public works crews from the island municipalities removed much of the washed up debris Jan. 9.
Arthur “Art” Whiting from Tampa-based Harden Marine Associates, Versaggi’s insurance adjuster, told The Islander Jan. 14 that the cleanup wasn’t finished. A portion of the hull — including up to three gas tanks capable of holding thousands of gallons of diesel — remained intact in 14 feet of water.
Whiting hired Tarpon Springs-based Florida Dredge and Dock and Palmetto-based DiveCom Marine to inspect the wreckage, remove the gas tanks and salvage any remaining valuable parts from the hull.
DiveCom divers began inspecting the hull Jan. 14 in an effort to locate the fuel tanks and prepare for their removal, according to Whiting.
“If the tanks aren’t in there, then we’ve got another situation, but we believe the remaining tankage is still in the hull,” Whiting said. “So, they will remove parts of the hull to get at those and get them out. …From a pollution standpoint, that would take care of just about everything.”
Whiting said a pollution containment boom — a floating dam designed to contain oil spills to a small area — was placed in the water above the wreckage as a precaution for any gas that leaks.
However, he said weather could be a factor in completing the job, since inclement conditions could complicate the tank removal and render the boom ineffective.
“So far, we’ve had excellent cooperation with our contractors,” Whiting said. “Everything’s gone smoothly.”
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January 19, 2021 at 03:03PM
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Cleanup in Gulf continues for wrecked shrimp trawler - Anna Maria Island News - The Anna Maria Islander
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