Stevens Towing completes two salvage operations in South Carolina 

Stevens Towing’s tugboat and heavy-lift assets helped remove a barge wreck before it could continue posing environmental and navigational risks and recover a railcar when it toppled into a harbour during operations in South Carolina, US.

Stevens Towing recovered a 30-m barge that had been abandoned near the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway off James Island since 2021.

It worked in partnership with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Charleston County, the US Coast Guard and Salmons Marine Contractors on this project.

Operations began with the mobilisation of a Stevens’ salvage barge, equipped with a Komatsu PC1250 excavator, in coordination with Salmons Dredging.

Commercial divers pre-positioned the rigging required to lift the sunken barge, and Stevens’ Ocean Ranger, a 500-tonne stiff-leg floating crane, was mobilised.

What initially appeared to be a straightforward salvage operation quickly evolved into a far more complex project, according to Stevens salvage master Jenkins Montgomery.

What started as a “small salvage job” turned into a 300-ton recovery operation in the middle of Wappoo Creek, he said.

The barge had filled with mud, making the salvage far heavier and more complicated than originally expected. 

Salvage work rarely goes exactly according to plan.

“Conditions change fast, weights shift and mud changes everything,” Mr Montgomery. said.  

“It is a dangerous job but comes with a lot of satisfaction and accomplishment,” he added.

After successfully raising the vessel, salvors spent two days pumping out water and removing accumulated sediment to reduce its weight before it could be safely transferred onto a barge for onward transport.  

The recovered barge was delivered to Stevens’ shipyard on Yonges Island, where it was unloaded using an 800-ton marine Travelift and responsibly dismantled and recycled.