Hillside, New Jersey, USA
August 29, 1997

On August 21, 1997 Donjon Marine Co., Inc. was contracted by Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company to raise the ladder/cutter head assembly from the 220' long dredge ALASKA after the assembly's lifting wires parted. The dredge was working offshore Westhampton, Long Island, New York in a beach replenishment project for the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) when heavy weather caused the anchor wires to break and the ladder's lifting wires to part while the dredge was in 35 feet of water and ½ mile form shore. Without the lifting wires the 400 ton ladder that protrudes from the bow remained stuck down into the ocean floor to a point where the cutter head was over 50 feet below the water's surface.

Donjon mobilized their 1,000 ton lift capacity sheer leg derrick barge CHESAPEAKE 1000 with the assistance of their tugboat PAUL ANDREW, from its home berth in Port Newark, New Jersey to the casualty site which was an 18 hour transit on August 21st. Donjon salvage and dive teams arrived before the crane barge to assess the situation and began preparations to recover the 110' ladder and allow the ALASKA's crew to stow it in the horizontal transit position.

While under the watchful eyes of the owners, the USACOE, the U. S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Long Island Sound and numerous other federal, state and local government agencies, Donjon was able to lift the damaged ladder on August 24h, after three days of unfavorable weather. The salvage actions eliminated the threat of release of 117,000 gallons of fuel oil from the dredge. Salvage pumps were stationed on the CHESAPEAKE 1000 to remove all fuel oil in the dredge's tanks in less than two hours, if required.

Once the ladder had been safety lifted from the ocean floor, the crew of the ALASKA secured it to the A-frame and the dredge was towed to Staten Island, New York for inspection.