Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Tuesday marked Day 6 of recovery efforts for the USS The Sullivans, as crews at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park continue to do all they can to right the 79-year-old vessel that started taking on water last Wednesday night.
There were two main focuses for crews on hand at the Buffalo Harbor on Tuesday: The environmental remediation efforts, and learning more about the ship for the recovery mission of righting the Sullivans.
"The company that we hired, which is an international recovery and repair company - TNT - had a full day on site [Monday] for the first time. They have spent most of the day [Tuesday] working," said Buffalo Naval Park President and CEO, Paul Marzello at Tuesday's briefing. "We were thankfully able to submit to them an archive from the USS The Sullivans back in 1943 when she was commissioned, which is a damage control manual. The purpose of that manual is to provide some valuable drawings that the naval architect and the other members of the diving team were able to look at to see where the compartments are and how to access them."
The good news from Tuesday's briefing was by way of cleanup efforts with the USS The Sullivans, as crews continue to primarily pump out contaminants of both the vessel and the waters of the Buffalo River.
"As of noon [Tuesday], it was reported that we have removed 4,610 gallons of oily waste and eight cubic yards of oily debris, or flotsam," Marzello said.
"There has been oil removal conducted. We're continuing to conduct debris removal," added Sector Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Buffalo Sector, Lexia Littlejohn. "We've also been able to maneuver the boom that surrounding the vessel into a better shape so that it better contains the oil that was emanating from the stern of the vessel."
Despite the positive news regarding the removal of contaminants from the waters, inclement weather forced the crew to scrap the plan of getting divers into the water to further assess the damage to the hull of the Sullivans.
"Bidco [Marine Group] had intended to put two divers into the water, Mother Nature had other ideas," Marzello said. "The situation changed with high winds and high water levels, so that mission was postponed until [Wednesday], with hopefully better weather conditions."
Water levels at the Buffalo Harbor were up significantly on Tuesday, as it had risen to a point where the name "The Sullivans" at the ship's rear was no longer visible above or just below the water's edge. Just the day before on Monday, water levels were down enough where you could visibly see "The Sull-".
Officials are hoping the weather will cooperate on Wednesday so they can finally get divers into the water to make the necessary assessments to the outside of the vessel in order to commence the next phase of righting the destroyer.
"They need to figure out where the water is coming in from, how is the water coming in. That's why we want to do an outside of the vessel assessment first," Littlejohn said. "Once we get more information from that, we will go inside and sort of figure out, does that match up with what we're seeing on the outside? Can we repair it? Does it need epoxy? Does it need wedges? Does it need plugs? So that's kind of what we're looking for. How can we get this vessel re-floated? Obviously we've got to fix those issues in areas where the water's coming in first."
In addition to the weather needing to calm down before the divers hit the water, other safety measures need to be in place in the Buffalo River to commence the task at-hand.
"For safety, the Coast Guard has established a safety zone that covers the Buffalo River entrance channel, and all portions of the Buffalo River," Littlejohn explained. "What that's going to do is it's going to require a no wake speed past the Naval Park. Vessels over 100 gross tons will be required to notify the Coast Guard two hours prior to entering the Buffalo River and that is to ensure the safety of the divers."
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While the hope is to get the divers into the water, as environmental cleanup efforts continue, Littlejohn and the crew at the Buffalo Naval Park have no timetable, at this time, as to when they hope to get the chance to try and re-float and right the ship back in place.
Another bit of good news for the vessel is its status since Thursday has remained relatively the same, with no new problems with the ship taking on water.
"As a 13:00 [Tuesday], the ship's condition is still static," Marzello said. "There's been no change in position. She is sitting on the bottom, and kind of wedged right against the shoreline."
According to the National Weather Service, Wednesday's forecast in Buffalo is calling for mostly sunny conditions with winds between 11-13 miles-per-hour and a high near 44 degrees.
You can listen to more of Tuesday's briefing of the recovery efforts for the USS The Sullivans in the player below: