New shipwreck in Duluth Harbor

[DiveCaptDean]

Just to shed some light...
Jay Hanson and I were having had lunch yesterday with Brad Owens..who was the first marine engineer contacted for the dive operations on the McCarthy.  We went to the ship and entered via the engine room door proceeded down one staircase to the control room area and then turned to find a staircase with 4 visible steps and a sea of black water.  There was oil bubbling up from several locations in the water..most probably from the oil tanks and the main engines.  We did not know the layout of the engine room so we took the oiler ( who was witness to the water entering the ship ) to another 1000 footer to show us the layout and show us where the water was entering.  We entered that ship ..down the first staircase..rounded the corner and then another staircase with roughly 12 steps and then another with 4 steps that took us to the main engine level.  We were pointed to a location that was roughly 5 feet beneath the metal grate floor as  being the location of hull breach.  Couple the damage area  with the amount of oil in the water and the fact that there was submerged eletrical concerns....we immeditaly realized that there was no way that we were going to be able to dive this from the inside.  But i have to tell you..this ship is sitting at the dock in 25 ft of water..and there is at least 15 to 18 feet of water inside this engine room.  The main engines are completely submereged..as are the Auxilliary power 8-71 catapillar diesels that are 7 feet above the mains.  I am told that from stern to the first bulkhead..the area that comprised the engine room..there is a distance of 200 ft...thats..200ft long by what...maybe 50 ft wide...and 15 to 18 ft deep....SICK..its a very impressive sight..anyways...we exited the wreck after expressing our concerns to keep the inside of the ship heated because if the water froze, there would be a much bigger concern that mearly "just having to thaw it out before repairing"...Brads concern was that if this water froze, there was a potential to burts the fuel tanks..if that happened..the EPA would not be too happy as it would be a bitch to contain thousands of gallons of fuel when the harbor is covered in ice....By the time we left, 3... thousand gallon per minute pumps were on site..as were a bull dozer and a large back hoe..they began clearing the area andwere planning to start pulling ice from the slip so that we could get Jay in the water to assess the damage from under the ship.  Today, Jay and Brad made their way there again..no diving was done, but more prep was involved.  as were more govenment employees....  the discussion and calculations began regarding the possibility to flood the bow of the ship and pump the stern to see if they could get the stern out of the water enough to dive under it to patch or coffer dam the damage.  there is of course a real concern about breaking the ships back if this is attempted with this much water in it.  That decision had not yet been made....when it is...Jay will most probably dive it.....Some information regarding the dock....This happened at Hallet dock 8....we were told that this dock had never taken a 1000 foot ship previously..it is only 25 ft deep..here are the concerns....This is the same dock that Jay helped raise a large barge that had sunk there a couple of years ago.  When that barge sunk, it apparently damaged the congrete dock cap that had train rail embedded in it and some of it fell into the water.  After the McCarthy sank, the dock inspection and sounding report was pulled and it was confirmed that there was an obstruction  in the water at the same location that the ship was( very possibly from the comcrete cap and rail)..it is believed that this concrete structure and possible one of the rails punctured the hull.....Keep in mind..we did not see this report, we were told this information by crew members...All of the crew was tested for alcohol yesterday..they all passed..and they were to be tested today for narcotics..i expect they will all pass that as well......There is a crap load of damage..i can only imagine how many millions of dollars of damage i was looking at...wowzers..Ill try to keep you posted...