Page 35: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2023)

COVER STORY CURTIN MARITIME

CASE STUDY:

Palmyra Atoll Wreck Removals

While each maritime project comes with its own unique challenges, Martin Curtin said the Palmyra Atoll wreck removal project that it conducted with Global Diving and

Salvage for Federal Fish and Wildlife stands out. Located just more than a thousand miles due south of Hawaii, Pal- myra Atoll houses a pristine reef ecosystem where Fed- eral Fish and Wildlife has a partnership with the Nature

Conservancy for a research station. “It’s like the tropical

High wide aerial version of Palmer Station,” said Curtin.

shot of Palmyra

With a crushed coral landing strip and no refueling on atoll. U.S. Minor outlying Island.

the atoll, Curtin said, transport options are limited. “You

Copyright Lightning Strike Pro/AdobeStock can charter a G5 out of Hawaii to get there, as it’s the only jet that’s big enough to get there, land turn around and take off and come back on one load of fuel.”

He said the project was interesting for a number of reasons, three different wreck removals that called for custom-built tooling and processes to ensure zero net impact on the reef systems during that process.

For Curtin Maritime is was a six-month dock-to-dock project, and Martin was on it the entire time. “I towed two barges out to Hawaii, where we resupplied and took on additional equipment.”

Then he took the trek from Hawaii to Palmyra Atoll, spent three months there and then back to Hawaii and then back to the West Coast.

Pre-planning and logistics were essential, because a charter ? ight from Hawaii to the job site was $50,000. “So if you needed an outboard prop because you wrecked your unit in the skiff, it was $50,000. And we were a really small company, probably 15-18 people at the time. We meticulously planned that project and performed, and we ended up removing twice the amount of scrap wreck than they had funded, so they went back to Congress mid- project and got additional funding.” www.marinelink.com 35

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