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ment, Donjon has again proven its abil- ity to support the needs of the marinecommunity with marine salvage services. Regardless of the situation, Donjon per- forms well under all conditions,? said John A. Witte, Jr., Executive ice Presi- dent, Donjon Marine Co., Inc.AGROUND AT CUBITS GAP Last month Donjon-SMIT, LLC, was notified that a client vessel was aground in the Mississippi River just above Cubit?s ap, about 10 miles below enice, La. Traffic on the Mississippi was not impeded by the grounded vessel. Donjon-SMIT, an OPA-0 salvage and marine firefighting provider, was placed on standby pending the results of efforts to refloat the vessel with tugs. Approxi- mately midday on June 14, the vessel?s salvage response plan was activated, and Donjon-SMIT mobilized its personneland assets to refloat the vessel. Within a few hours of the activation of the salvage plan, one of Donjon-SMIT?s Rapid Response Assessors was on scene to conduct the initial onsite salvage as- sessment. Donjon-SMIT?s salvage team arrived shortly after, and efforts began to conduct a damaged stability assessmentand to utilize tugs to refloat the vessel. ?The vessel was broadside into the cur- rent, so there was a very real concern that the situation could worsen quickly,? said Paul Hankins, President of Donjon- SMIT. ?We were also worried about the rapid silting around the vessel.? Overnight on June 14 and into the morning of June 15, four and eventually five tugs were used to scour the buildup of silt around the vessel and to attempt to refloat and maneuver her back into the channel. While these efforts were ongo- ing, preparations were being made on alightering plan should the tug efforts prove to be unsuccessful. The vessel was refloated and began making significant headway and was eventually maneuvered back into the channel. The vessel was successfully an- chored at South West Pass Fairway an- chorage. Donjon-SMIT conducted a hull survey of the vessel on the 16th while the vessel was at anchor. Some damage was found on the bilge keel of the vessel, but her hull was intact and she was cleared by the U.S. Coast uard to continue her voyage. GHSSoftware to Simulate Salvage Jobs Many well-known salvage engineers and salvage-and-recovery operators rely on eneral HydroStatics (HS) software for simulating and planning salvage pro- cedures. The software provides detailed modeling of any vessel in any attitude with intact, flooded and pressurized tanks.It also provides for ground reactions, pull forces and windage effects. Detailed graphics are available to depict the re- sponse of the vessel at each step of a salvage operation. Salvors use HS in combination with: C Condition raphics, LE - Load Ed- itor, LS - Longitudinal Strength, and MB- Multi-Body Optional Modules as a base- line in salvage operations. A unique feature offered by HS is the ability to model interactions between several floating bodies using Optional Module Mult-Body. Depending on the salvage operators needs, some may additionally use AF Ad- vanced Features, FL Floodable Lengths, LEw Load Editor with Windows, TS Tank Soundings, and NETPlus which allows HS access at remote sites. The powerful command language for which HS is famous gives the salvage engineer the ability to automate complex operations involving many small steps. Some examples of salvors using HS in their operations are: London Offshore Consultants contact William Leschaeve, Marine Response Consultants contact enneth Edgar, Smit Salvage B contact Alexander orter, Titan Salvage contact Phil Reed. A clam shell bucket was used to re- move damaged vessels. Global Diving& Salvage was activated to survey and investigate the damage at thePort of Crescent City, Ca., in the wake of the Japanese tsunami ofMarch 2011 (Photo: Global Diving & Salvage, Inc.)July 2011www.marinelink.com 37