Salvors tackle container losses, fires and sunken vessels

In other incidents concerning container ships, Resolve Marine mobilised a team to support an owner who had experienced shifting cargo in heavy seas off Uruguay.

Technicians specialising in rope access dealt with 101 damaged containers, enabling this ship to sail to a nearby terminal.

In late November, a fire broke out in the engineroom of a container ship docked at the Port of Wilmington, Delaware.

Resolve mobilised firefighting teams from Boston and Fort Lauderdale and equipment from Delaware Bay. 

They worked with the local fire department to control and extinguish the blaze, and to ventilate and establish safe entry into the engineroom. Afterwards, Resolve helped the ship’s crew regain power and discharge the cargo.

Also in the US, Stevens Towage salvaged a 17-m Benneteau boat weighing 31 kg from the north jetty in Charleston Harbor.

Its tug Island Boy pushed the Stevens 17039 self-lifting spud barge and Clyde crane barge to the wreck site for a low-tide arrival.

Stevens 17039 spudded down directly alongside the jetty and was used as a stable work platform.

Salvors removed the rigging, then lifted the vessel and secured it on the barge for transport back to the terminal.

Upon arrival, the sailboat was safely placed on pedestals and jack stands, where it was inspected by insurance surveyors to determine its condition.

Sunken tugboats

In Washington state, the USCG removed sunken tugboat Dominion from Bremerton Marina after the 40-m wooden-hulled tug sank on 17 September 2025, causing an environmental accident that needed a quick resolution.

The USCG worked with the Washington Department of Ecology, Suquamish Tribe, the Port of Bremerton and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration to remove the vessel and prevent further pollution from onboard oil and debris using booms, skimmers and absorbents.

In Spain, Ardentia salvaged a sunken tug in the Port of Barcelona to remove the blockage to the harbour that was affecting port traffic.

Its salvors removed oil by hot tapping, then refloated the tugboat using airbags and towed it to the dock for inspection.

Ardentia was also involved in oil spill control, retrieving lost anchors and small salvage interventions in several Spanish ports, and provided emergency response to two oil and gas decommissioning projects in Spain.

In Ireland in November, Atlantic Towage recovered sunken multipurpose workboat, Stephanie 1, from the harbour at Castletownbere, County Cork.

This involved an initial dive survey to establish the vessel’s condition and orientation on the seabed, deployment of lift bags and slings and a staged lift using airbags.

Salvors then manoeuvred Stephanie 1 to the adjacent Dinish Island Wharf, where it was lifted by a mobile crane using slings.

Ship groundings

In Denmark, Smit Salvage refloated a grounded shortsea general cargo ship near Randers to reopen the shipping fairway and towed this vessel to the port of Grenaa to redeliver it to the owner.

In Papua New Guinea, Pacific Towing (PacTow) refloated a grounded Coral Expeditions cruise vessel using its emergency response tug in December 2025. Australia-flagged Coral Adventurer grounded near Dregerhafen, about 105 km northeast of Lae on its voyage from Cairns, Australia.

PacTow used 1992-built, 31-m tugboat, Langila, to help refloat this 2019-built, 93-m expedition cruise ship on 30 December in a joint operation with the ship operator and authorities.

In Saudi Arabia, salvors, assisted by Marine Masters, used a fleet of tugs to refloat a tanker near King Abdullah Port after it was deballasted and towed it into the port.

Marine Masters also responded to stranded product tanker Grace Ferrum after it suffered water ingress in the engineroom.

A remotely operated vehicle and divers patched a hole in the hull, and tugs towed this 2013-built, 183-m tanker from Libya to Malta for repairs and the controlled discharge of kerosene.

In France, Marine Masters supported refloating the grounded barge AMT Challenger at Sotteville-sur-Mer.

In Turkey, the Directorate General Coastal Safety (DGCS) responded to crude oil tanker Kairos after it caught fire off the Black Sea coast.

All 25 crew members on this 274-m ship were evacuated on 28 November by DGCS search and rescue vessel Kiyiemniyeti-10.

Tugboat Kurtarma-12 and response vessel Nene Hatun were mobilised for firefighting and cooling operations, and towed the 2002-built tanker to a safe anchorage.

In the Mediterranean, Seacontractors’ anchor handling tug Sea Seraya assisted a ship that experienced engine failure off Sicily while en route to Agio Theodoroi, Greece. Sea Seraya towed this stricken vessel to an anchorage near Augusta.

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The 28th International Tug & Salvage Convention, Exhibition & Awards will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, in association with Caterpillar, 19-21 May 2026. Use this link for more details of this industry event and the associated social and networking opportunities.