It took workers more than 12 hours to recover a barge that had partially sunk at Shaw’s Fish and Lobster Wharf in New Harbor on May 3.
Members of Bristol Fire and Rescue, barge owner Tucker Phinney, of New Harbor Marine Construction LLC, responders from the Coast Guard Station at Boothbay Harbor, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and salvage company Determination Marine, of Portland, worked together through the morning and afternoon to recover the craft.
The “spud barge,” as it’s known, is a construction craft that is moored on metal poles, or “spuds,” driven into the muddy floor of the harbor. Ordinarily, attachments to those poles allow for the barge to move up and down as the tide rises and falls, Bristol Fire Chief Scott Sutter Jr. said.
On the morning of May 3, Sutter said, it appeared that the bow of the barge got caught on one of those poles, preventing it from moving up and down freely, and ultimately causing the bow to drop below the rising tide, where its hull filled with water, Sutter said.
Though the barge was eventually lifted from the harbor floor, the outboard engine, on-board electronics, and a skiff tied to the barge were all lost, Phinney said, and the diesel engine and hydraulics are not currently working either.
Phinney said a thunderstorm the previous afternoon had caused him and his team to pack up and leave quickly.
“It’s dangerous to be working on the water in a thunderstorm — especially when you’re working with a crane,” he said.
Phinney said he learned about the condition of the barge the morning of May 3.
The sinking barge was reported about 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Sutter, the fire chief, described a “thin sheen covering the whole inner harbor.” His department set out to “try and contain any fluids that may have leaked out and protect the lobster wharf next door, as they had lobsters in crates floating on their docks,” he said.
Sutter said that it was unclear how much fluid had spilled, but about 100 gallons of various toxic liquids were on board, including diesel fuel, gas, and hydraulic oil.
Responders used a containment boom to keep further leaked fluids from spreading.
“The Coast Guard assessed the situation, took some information, and deemed it a minimal impact,” Sutter said.
The salvage crew then used inflatable bags to raise the craft’s bow from the bottom of the harbor before pumping the water out of the hull. The team then worked on cleaning and restoring the barge.
Sutter said that the Department of Environmental Protection arrived later in the day with more absorbent booms and “guidance on containment” of the spill.
“It was a pretty low key, slow process,” he said.
Phinney continued working on the barge until 11 p.m. Friday to get the barge running again in order to get back to business.
“We’ve got a lot of projects ahead of us,” he said.
