Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Progress continues to repair the Sullivans and the Croaker. The CEO of the Erie County Naval and Military Park says there are several factors that still need to be addressed.
"We're about halfway dealing with these older ships," says Bill Abbott. He says the ships bring up unique challenges, in part because of their age. "The ships were built to last about 20 years, and they're they've just passed their 80th so there's a combination of different things that have created this weakness in the in the skin of the ships," explains Abbott. Another issue is the electrical system. "The ship's electrical system is very different from, say, the the type of electric you have in your house, if you have a ground that actually creates a weakness in the ship and causes the ship to deteriorate, sometimes 50 to 100 times faster than it would otherwise." That and the fact the skin of the ship has become so thin pinholes are forming.
Abbott adds there's progress on cleanup of spills caused by pinholes. "The DEC and the Coast Guard have been outstanding partners, and they've been working with us to get this remediation completed," says Abbott, who notes the cleanup is it's methodical. "We're working with the naval architect who's guiding us through very specifically when it comes to the removal of not only the oil and the oily waste, but also the weight, we have to be very careful about how we pull out that much fluid in the weight that that constitutes, because it could create stability issues for the ships."
He says to this point, everything's running really well. He estimates about two more weeks, and then crews can process the oily waste within the frack tanks on site, and so the best estimate as things stand is three weeks. Then, the ships will go into dry dock.
Age and other factors contributing to pinholes on the ship's skin
