Three in One (salvage of the MT BETELGEUSE)

according to news agency reports received at Lloyds January 8 1979 French motor tanker bagel shows sixty 1766 tonnes gross sustained two explosions while discharging cargo at Gulf Oil Ocean Terminal Bantry shortly before Oh 100 hours today first explosion cut her in two and second more powerful followed almost immediately after reported that her 42 crew feared dead together with five Gulf oil ship employees on the information received Schmitt talk international salvage company Rotterdam goes into action Nimoy 107 Smith Lloyd's 107 Americans Jesus MIT already order Kadam but I feed our butter survived Tom taught over just how to tackle eat almonds apparently out of Eric you do see sort of equipment and we expect her to sail within a couple of hours directly do venture Bay the salvage vessel barracuda proceeds at full speed for battery bay Ireland I dunno you only the bow of the beetlejuice is visible above the water the salvage crew set out to make a first inspection of the stricken tanker crude oil covers the deck gasps in the remaining tanks threatens another more devastating explosion two-thirds of the ship have sunk in deep water next to the jetty the four part is inclined at an angle of 35 degrees to keep the forepart in position and prevent damage to the jetty a towing wire is rigged between the bow of the fatal Jers and the Schmitt load 107 a powerful supply tug with a bollard pull of 100 tons the obstructive jetty is the only berth for the tank form the wreck must be removed to clear the jetty it is a monumental task complicated by the totally unknown condition of the sunken part nothing on this scale has ever been tried before if it succeeds this will be the biggest wreck removal in history crude is leaking from the cargo tanks planes are brought in to spray dispersant to break down the oil and prevent it from polluting the shoreline oil booms connected to fishing boats gather large areas of slick and feed them into a skimming vessel divers examine the hole the tactics of the operation will be based on the observations of these experts forty meters down in total darkness surrounded by the mournful groans of the torn twisting in the time first underwater inspections show that the hull is not broken in two but rather into three equal sections the four part seems to be separated from the midship the aft part with the engine room has sunk by its own weight into 15 meters of mud taking advantage of the relatively calm weather valves poses high-pressure hydraulic lines and special hydraulic cargo safety pumps are brought aboard while the others are busy topside the divers continue their inspection of the wreck according to the information available it seems very possible that the bow section is only lightly attached to the rest of the ship therefore mobile pups ballast the forepeak to adjust the trim the party Dhamma vaca I've been on a little typo I love you I don't wanna talk the decrease power 11,000 horsepower at work the our model for pot wants to go up too much you may be saying by angle of inclination or the bow section is still entangled with the rest of the wreckage now one of the alternative plans is put into action the remaining crude oil in the bow section must be discharged 500 meters of open water separate the casualty from the tank farm on woody island because the jetties submarine pipelines cannot be used a floating hose has to be rigged to pump the cargo to the oil terminal storage tanks by pumping out the oil the forepart is lightened further pollution minimized and ten thousand tons of cargo save the naval architect and the salvage inspector work out the highly technical details of unloading the tanks high-pressure hydraulic lines - the safety pumps are connected up the pumps have been specially designed to be inserted into ships Butterworth holes very carefully the pumps are lowered into place although inert gas is used the danger of explosion is ever-present the hydraulic power packs are stationed aboard the Barracuda standing at a safe distance off the tanker the final connections are made and pumping out the cargo begins pumping continues day and night until all the remaining cargo is safely ashore sea water is now pumped into the forepeak and ballast tanks to break the bow section free ashore any movement of the ship is precisely monitor then a serious development occurs bottom plating of the portside wing and center tank - ripped open as the bow section broke loose sea water rushed out and she developed a dangerous list to port at this point anything could happen the worst being that the lightened bow section could flip over and lurch into the jetty proper action must be taken at once aboard the barracuda lids of ventilation pipes taken from the bow section are fitted with air hose couplings the plan is to force compressed air into the tidal tanks to displace water and correct the list the next morning a bow section is under control and is boarded for final inspection the first stage of this enormous operation has been successfully completed and Schmitt talk proudly raises the flag with the barracuda alongside to keep a constant air pressure in the rift Hall the 107 toes the bow section safely away the midsection will be raised by using a combination of sheer legs compressed air and polystyrene spheres the compressed air and the sheer legs will give a controlled lifting because the polystyrene floats inside the wreck it packs tightly from the top downwards thus forcing out the water in creating buoyancy but that is still a long way off the crack splitting the midsection from the aft part will have to be completely cut through explosives are used to force apart the two remaining sections divers prepare to cut access openings for the polystyrene hoses and holes in the hull for the compressed air to escape during the racing in rotterdam 200 tons of polystyrene is processed for the raising the raw material with a consistency of coarse sugar is expanded by steam to form billions of tiny air encasing spheres these tiny objects will assist in lifting the midsection the polystyrene is blown into a seagoing barge bound for Bantry Bay at the same time divers patch openings in the hull of the midsection prior to pumping in the polystyrene and air it's a tricky job at up to 40 meters depth in poor visibility the barge carrying the polystyrene is brought into position over the midship hoses are rigged for pumping the spheres the pumping start the pumping continues for two weeks finally the required buoyancy is achieved to be sure that all of the entangled wreckage between the two sections has been cut through it is decided to use a heavy anchor chain to saw through any remaining bottom plates the sheer legs tuck lift one will do the job brute force and a delicate touch combined to rip apart the obstructing steel the tonnage indicator shows a rapid fall off intention which could mean success divers go down to check the cut is clean now the chain is looped under the midsection to assist in the lifting air hoses are coupled compressed air is forced into the Hall the lifting of the midsection starts after seven months on the bottle the midsection floats everything has gone according to plan so it ha takk lift one must use all her lifting capacity during the toe to shallow water the barracuda rides alongside continuously pumping in compressed air to maintain safe buoyancy because of the tankers tremendous draught and dangerous condition a submersible pontoon is brought in to lift and transport the midsection out of Bantry Bay after three months of patching water is pumped out to raise the midsection as high as possible it is discovered that a bottom plate is bent back like an open sardine can and hangs down 15 meters making it necessary for the midsection to be loaded affort ships on the pontoon at night the pontoon is submerged and the midsection towed over into position the next morning the enormous structure is securely in place and ready to go so far so good two down one to go but the next job will be more difficult than the two already accomplished combine the app weighing seven and a half thousand tons at the Smith talked office in Rotterdam the salvage directors explained the planned operation to the representative of the West of England P&I Club that most of the tanks in the engine room was filled damaged the amount of buoyancy which we need to lift it off part cannot be created in the tanks which are left in the double bottom even if he should fill the more of his polystyrene or air and that's the reason why our technical department which mr. Pham I came up with this concept of for lifting barges to hydraulic to confence along with winches and tackles to raise the shafts part seven half thousand tonnes with a total lifting capacity of eleven thousand tonnes but as you know the off part sank in the month fifteen metres up till here for this reason we have to dredge around the remaining half parts in order to get the wires underneath dredging continues for 30 days until 15 thousand cubic meters of mud have been removed from around the wreck at the same time factories all over Western Europe are producing custom-designed equipment for the hoisting barges bow rollers wires cheese monkey faces yokes pulling shadows winches shackles compensating wires on such a scale as have never been used before on a salvage operation all this equipment must be manufactured within four months you hydraulic pulling machines of a unique design are also specially made for this final lip barge giant 21 fitted with a hydraulic wasting gear under way to battery ten kilometers of high tension steel wires are made-to-order varying in circumference from 44 up to 100 millimeters this sling has a breaking strength of 630 tons it is 140 metres long and weighs six and a half ton on location three sets of eight slings are pulled underneath the wreck and connected up again to the for lifting barges the to conventional winch barges and the two hydraulic hoisting barges total lifting capacity eleven thousand tons safe working load are anchored in position above the app ship one of the 24 slings which must pull the wreck to the surface is heaved in over the bow roller and secured to the pulling shell this shackle weighs more than 200 kilos not an easy job working with such giant gear with all the cables laid the barges must be ballasted prior to hoist ting steel plates are lowered into position between the wreck and the cables when the barges start to pull these plates will prevent the cables from biting into the weakened huh transducers are attached to the wreck to register all movement during the lifting zero hour this is the climax of months of preparation everything is ready for the lift the operation manager checks with each barge before the countdown Dana tainted James England is dating and yes noodle saying you require on to hasten over eighty three to the squad three you do describe the Osmond glide on days when getting total client facing that safe Chagall in our new combination ev3 forty meters below the wreck stirs in her muddy bed and then very very slowly starts her upward journey oh yeah open-hearted Oh regulating aisle the shafts locked to the slings are drawn back by the specially designed pulling machines bogies on Rails support the shafts weight there is no way back not the four barges must waste in synchronization to keep the wreck from sliding out of the slave ain't me they mimic so tiny in the late morning of the first day the aft part has raised clear of the sea bottom this allows the barges with the REC suspended beneath to move away from the jetty and take up an ideal position for the remainder of the operation yeah let me overwhelmingly normally at the moment central controlled monitors each barge he's a lead lung someone out of a hardened I courted both winch barges are equipped with five kilometres of steel wire Omega Jedi our love is like any minute now the crewmen reports the first sign of the wreck surfacing - no planes in older than dr. storm does mean the adult we agreed on the Olympics and courts for out over the woods cyanide agenda enablement and toxic to travel the doctor for therefore open three members of our is that in orbit American player did he dare said in only Chester still he deleted it K on the castevets Atlantic very very graphic issue with care and the derivative wasting continues steadily a team of tugs tows the partially surfaced after ship between the barges to a sheltered Anchorage in the Lee of woody island go know me a little bit area cracks in the hall are patched so that the engine room can be pumped dry to create more buoyancy pumps are lured inside the rep slowly but surely the combination of hoisting and pumping does the trick this is the engine room the aft section has been raised high enough out of the water to be able to carry on with the final stage the semi submersible pontoon giant one is again brought into position the buoyancy chambers are flooded to sink her in 23 metres of water with the two hydraulic lifting barges assisting to control stability giant one empties her tanks and slowly brings the aft section out high and dry Monica video it has taken more than a year and a half to raise the fatal shoes 573 days non-stop of skill sweat and guts for these men to accomplish the largest wreck removal of all time you

Channel: PKFVchannel

Views: 243,683

Rating: 4.7627473 out of 5

Keywords: ship, wreck, scheepswrak, salvage, berging, SMIT, TAK, Betelgeuse, whiddy, island, oil, olie, tanker, pollution, vervuiling, ramp, disaster

Id: mFXEU85AyaI

Length: 44min 4sec (2644 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 01 2012

Reddit Comments

[u/CD-RR]

"On 8 januari 1979 the oil tanker BETELGEUSE exploded while moored at Bantry Bay, Whiddy Island, Ireland. Pim Korver Film made a 45 minutes documentary on the salvage that took 1.5 years - named "Three in One" - while it actually were 3 mini documentaries; the ship had broken in tree due to the explosion and parts of it sunk, which required different salvage techniques for each part."