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Home : Media : News
NEWS | Nov. 13, 2018

SUPSALV leads historic operation to remove oil on ex-Prinz Eugen

By NAVSEA Office of Corporate Communications

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) office led a joint team to successfully remove 229,000 gallons of oil from the sunken World War II vessel ex-Prinz Eugen located in the Kwajalein Atoll.

The project, led by Stephanie Bocek in SUPSALV and sponsored by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command /Army Forces Strategic Command, required two years of research and planning to prepare for the unprecedented removal of oil from up to 173 tanks of a heavy cruiser warship.

“This project was an incredible opportunity to showcase the U.S. Navy Salvage community’s capabilities. SUPSALV had prior experience with sunken vessel oil removal on ex-USS Chehalis and USS Missessinewa so we were well positioned to lead this project,” said Capt. Keith Lehnhardt, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving. “This also serves as an example of exceptional partnership for future oil spill responses, salvage operations, and other emergencies.” 

Prior to removal of oil, SUPSALV’s Emergency Ship Salvage Material oil spill response team worked to select, assemble and deploy the right combination of equipment, tools and consumables to support the planned operation. The load-out included “hot tap” oil extraction systems, submersible pumping systems, oil spill response resources, tank close-out and patching supplies, and other innovative diver tools.  A market search was conducted to identify and charter a commercial oil tanker to collect the recovered petroleum product transport it for disposal or recycling at the conclusion of the operation. The oil tanker vessel Humber was selected.  

The Humber, along with Military Sealift Command’s USNS Salvor were positioned directly above the ex-Prinz Eugen in order to effectively conduct the oil removal. This task was challenging because of the close proximity of the wreck to the neighboring shoreline which would not allow the ships to drop the shoreward anchors due to shallow depth. Ultimately, SUPSALV arranged for use of the U.S. Army Garrison – Kwajalein Atoll’s harbor tug Mystic to collect the anchors at the pier and drop them in place this allowed the ship to successful finalize their four-point moor over ex-Prinz Eugen. 

Each oil filled, accessible tank was hot tapped, pumped free of recoverable oil, and sealed with a permanent, tamper-proof dome assembly to prevent any subsequent leakage of residual oil clingage left in the tank. These actions ensured that the wreck, a popular dive site, is safe for continued recreational diving and the Atoll is safe from the risk of significant oil spill from ex-Prinz Eugen.

-NAVSEA-