($277 million dollar) U.S. Navy ship removed from Philippine reef (in pieces)

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/30/u-s-navy-ship-removed-from-philippine-reef/



U.S. Navy ship removed from Philippine reef
By Agence France-Presse
Saturday, March 30, 2013 10:27 EDT

Salvage teams on Saturday removed the last piece of a US Navy ship that was stuck on a UNESCO World Heritage-listed coral reef in the Philippines for more than 10 weeks, the coast guard said.

The stern of the USS Guardian was lifted off the Tubbataha Reef after the 68-metre (223-foot) vessel was sliced into portions for easier removal, Philippine coast guard spokeswoman Lieutenant Greanata Jude said.

Bad weather had earlier delayed the recovery operations but once the skies cleared, a salvage ship used a huge crane to lift the bow, the deck, the funnel and other pieces of the ship off the reef.

~snip~

Under Philippine law, ships that run aground on Tubbataha are fined 24,000 pesos ($585) for every square metre of damaged reef, she said.



unhappycamper comment: No bad; it took the United States only ten weeks to remove it.

For more pics, google: uss guardian dismantle

[MADem]

1. Ouch, ouch, ouch. A fairly new vessel, and that skipper is toast. nt