Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - USS The Sullivans anchored at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval Park is submerged partially at the stern starboard side and is listing heavily now as the long ongoing full repair to the ship's hull now becomes and even longer and harder task.
Officials estimate estimate the ship took on 3 million gallons of water Thursday and efforts to pump out water continued overnight into Friday.
"There's no doubt that the hull is not getting any better over time," said CEO and President of Buffalo and Erie County Navy and Military Park, Paul Marzello. "We did a study two and a half years ago in which we did a full analysis and we realized that she had some very thin areas that we needed to address."
The major breach was reported last night between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. and the cause is unknown. "We realized last night between 9 and 10 o'clock that we had a major breach in the hull. We don't know the cause at this point," said Marzello.
"We've got a committed group down here. We're not going to give up the ship and failure is not an option," said Marzello.
Marzello said they believe there was a breach on the right side of the hull Wednesday night. He said crews trying to stabilize the 79-year-old vessel are pumping out up to 13,000 gallons (49,210 liters) a minute.
"I think we've seen the worst, but I don't know," he said.
Four massive industrial pumps arrived on site Thursday afternoon and crews were hoping to get ahead of the incoming water and begin to pump more water out than what is coming in through the breach.
The diving group partnered with the park, BIDCO Marine Group, has been actively working to fix the ship and started their efforts last summer but had to temporarily pause their efforts due to a decrease in temperature, "At the end of last summer, they were pulled off the job once the water temperature dropped below 54 degrees because that was the number needed for the epoxy to adhere to the steel." said Marzello.
BIDCO was suppose to return Monday to continue their work. "They were starting to mobilize their barges in place for Monday to start getting their divers into the water," Marzello added.
The ship is at no risk of fully sinking and the CEO confirms that the ship is not going to go down. "I don't think anybody, including our board of directors would say that this ship is going to go down on there watch," said Marzello.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Buffalo native, tweeted that state agencies were on site and ready "to help revive this treasure and symbol of perseverance."
Mayor Byron Brown gave an update following, to view that update click the link in the player below:
Tim Wenger, WBEN.com
The USS The Sullivans, a National Historic Landmark, was named in honor of the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa. The brothers were killed in action when the USS Juneau was sunk by the Japanese in the South Pacific during World War II.
More than $1 million was raised last year to repair the ship's breached hull. Crews paused work over the winter and were to resume repairs Monday, Marzello said.
The USS The Sullivans is one of four decommissioned Naval vessels at the park.
