Morrison had the esteemed privilege of working with the Resolve Marine Group and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) in an intricate oil recovery operation on the World War II-era shipwreck, Coimbra, 30 miles off the coast of Long Island, New York. Morrison dive teams successfully assisted in the removal of 450,000 gallons of oil from this WWII-era tanker wreck.

Initial dive operations at the beginning of May 2019 showed the tanker was leaking small amounts of oil from where it sat 180 ft below the surface. Morrison was contracted by Resolve Marine Group to assist in the assessment and removal operations on the M/T Coimbra. Morrison provided a team of ten personnel, which included a dive supervisor, a dive superintendent, divers and dive tenders, along with a mixed gas equipment package.

Deep-sea divers from Morrison and Resolve Marine Group performed underwater operations on the M/T Coimbra in depths from 150-180 ft of water. The divers used ‘hot tapping’ technology to access the oil in the hull of the inverted vessel on the sea bottom. The hot tapping device allowed access to the oil tanks with limited to no negative environmental impact. Oil samples extracted during these dives will be tested and analyzed in an effort to identify the type of oil the team is working with, as well as the best means to remove oil products that remain in the tanks.

“Morrison was honored to assist Resolve Marine and the U.S. Coast Guard in their efforts to mitigate pollution caused from leaking tanker, we are especially proud of our supervisors and crews who received multiple accolades from the client and officers who led the project.” – Marty Cox, Diving Director, Morrison

At the end of the project, nearly 450,000 gallons of oil were extracted from the Coimbra over a three-month period and the wreck was determined safe and clean.

Fast Facts About the Project:

0 Recordable incidents

11,000 hours worked by crews

193 HEO2 gas dives to 180 FSW performed

355 hours spent in waters as cold as 43 degrees

59 hot taps performed

275 feet of the DP2 vessel utilized for the project