(HOUMA, La.) — Salvage crews started removing the fuel from SEACOR Power’s fuel tanks Monday after spending the weekend arriving on scene and becoming familiar with the equipment approximately 7 miles off Port Fourchon, La. The liftboat capsized on April 13, leaving six dead and seven missing. Six people were rescued.
Salvage crews are using a method called hot tapping, which allows for drilling into the fuel tanks and making a hose connection without ruining the integrity of the tank or causing pollution impacts. Divers are performing this process above and below the water, connected to an air hose, and it’s imperative mariners respect the one-mile safety zone during these evolutions.
Weather is key to a safe evolution, and if conditions exceed approximately 15-mph winds, 4-foot seas, and the current is faster than 1.25 mph, work will cease until there are safer conditions.
– U.S. Coast Guard
