LYNN — Some people walking or driving along Lynn Shore Drive this week may have been confused by the sight of a giant crane floating in the ocean.
It turns out the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been coordinating a salvage operation that involves the recovery of a 92-foot work barge, known as the Dredge 200, which sank about two miles southeast of Nahant two years ago.
The vessel was carrying construction equipment that held a maximum of 500 gallons of diesel fuel and 400 gallons of hydraulic oil when it capsized and sank in December 2018, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Dredge 200 was one of five barges being towed by a tugboat, Big Jake, at the time of the incident. Of the four barges that broke free and went adrift, Dredge 200 was the only one that was not located before it sank. There were no injuries and no one was onboard the barge, the Coast Guard said.
Since last week, Donjon Marine, Co. Inc., a marine engineering company, has been working to recover the dredge and construction equipment from the ocean off of Lynn Shore Drive, approximately two nautical miles away from the North Boston Main Channel entrance.
“They’ve been contracted by the owner of the Dredge 200 which sank in that area a couple of years ago,” said Sector Boston Aton Officer Patrick Morkis, a liaison for the salvage company.
“They’re recovering what’s remaining on the ocean floor so they’ve already got the barge up and they’ve got a big barge on scene for what they’ve recovered, the Dredge 200 barge, and now they’re working on recovering the excavator.”
Work is expected to wrap up next week, but in the meantime, mariners have been advised that no person or vessel is allowed to enter the 100-yard temporary safety zone that has been established in the area during the operation. Two tug vessels are on scene monitoring the channels.
Unfortunately, the word did not get out to the fishing community in time, and fishermen did not learn about the restrictions in the area until they showed up to fish last week, Morkis said.
But otherwise, he said, there has not been any other interference.
It is not protocol to wait nearly two years to recover a sunken vessel, Morkis said, explaining that there have been several other major salvage operations going on that have involved the several companies that would typically bid on the work.
In addition, he said there is a small weather window for those types of operations, which are usually reserved for the summer months.
“I think that the impact to the environment is minimal,” said Morkis. “They have plenty of pollution prevention. The plan they have in place is excellent. They have a contracted company out there with Donjon in case there is a pollution discharge.
“It would be great to get it out of the Channel and not have that hazard be out there for the deep dredge ships that come out of the Port of Boston.”