Hillside, New Jersey, USA
July 3, 1997

Under the watchful eyes of disappointed local fishermen, Donjon Marine Co., Inc. removed the 30 year old Savannah Light Tower, a Texas-style tower approximately 10 miles off of Tybee Island, Georgia. The fow-legged aid-to-navigation and weather station tower, struck and completely destroyed by an inbound container vessel last November, was a favorite fishing hole for those living in the Savannah suburbs.

At the beginning of the year, Donjon mobilized their 1,000 ton capacity crane barge CHESAPEAKE 1000 out of its home port of Port Newark, New Jersey to the destroyed tower to assist with the first phase of the debris recovery. In addition to removing a forty foot shipping container filled with hazardous materials lost from the ship when it hit the tower, the CHESAPEAKE 1000 was used to raise the house of the tower from over 50 feet of water and place it on a barge for disposal in Savannah. It was determined that the second phase of the removal, the dismantling of the tower's steel frame work, would have to be completed in the Spring due to the potential for unfavorable weather during the Winter months which was not conducive to this type of open ocean wreck removal work.

A comprehensive bidding process, which resulted in the award to remove the remaining debris, Donjon mobilized its crane barge MICHIGAN, tug PAUL ANDREW, crew boat MATTHEW SCOTT, and one of its "WITTE Class" of deck barges to Savannah by early May. While in Savannah, all of the necessary diving and ancillary support equipment was loaded onto the deck of the MICHIGAN and made fast for working offshore.

During offshore weather windows, the MICHIGAN was towed out to the site of the destroyed tower and placed into a four-point moor which facilitated maneuvering around the wreck site without the aid of the tug. Diving operations and topside demolition was directed by one of Donjon's salvage master and performed daily during a 12 to 16 hour shift, utilizing the MATTHEW SCOTT to ferry the workers to and from the shore. All of the steel framework, approximately 400 tons, was loaded onto the barge and towed back to New Jersey for disposal. An underwater video was taken of the bottom to ensure that there was no debris remaining frmn the tower that had not been recovered.

"We were very pleased to have been awarded this work and were equally pleased as to just how well the wreck removal and recovery went," said John A. Witte, Jr., Executive Vice-President of Donjon. "It was unfortunate that the tower was hit and destroyed but it was encouraging to see just how well the U. S. Coast Guard and the owners worked together to have the potential maritime hazard removed." Donjon Marine, a multi-faceted maritime company located near Newark, New Jersey, has been in business since 1964 providing salvage and related services to the maritime comniunity throughout the world.