Although pictured here demonstrating her versatility by commercially breaking ice in the Hudson River, Donjon's 7000hp, 82 tonne bollard pull Atlantic Salvor has been busy recently with a series of tows - both large and small.

     In May, the tug was contracted to take the 650ft tankship Tolteca from the west coast of Mexico to Veracruz on the east coast via the Panama Canal. Within weeks of completing his exercise, the vessel was engaged on another 'deadship' tow - the fully laden 50,000dwt Boreas, from Port Canaveral, Florida to Kalamaki, Greece. The stricken bulk carrier, which had suffered a main engine failure, was delivered to her destination averaging 8 knots over 5,200 miles.

     On her way back from this operation, Atlantic Salvor stopped in the Azores to pick up a 124ft British flagged yacht, Talon, which had sustained an engine room fire. Using the tug's ½" chain, the yacht was delivered to Atlantic Drydock in Jacksonville, Florida in just 12 days.

     The tug immediately proceeded the short distance north to Savannah to pick up a Donjon barge loaded with steel and concrete from the Savannah Light Tower. This four-legged aid to navigation and weather station positioned some ten miles off Tybee Island was struck and completely destroyed by an inbound container vessel late last year. At the conclusion of the dismantling and clean-up operation by Donjon, Atlantic Salvor took the debris to a New Jersey scrap facility.

     The vessel's most recent project is the tow of ex-USNS Trout, a 278ft high speed attack submarine, from Rhode Island to the Florida Keys where she is to be used as a training platform.

ITS Report
Volume 2, Issue No. 4 1992