Harbor paid $21,000 to lift derelict tug that sank in snowstorm

 

January 27, 2022

Courtesy of the Port and Harbors Department

Port Director Steve Miller (left) and harbor employee Chris Smith pump out a listing boat in Shoemaker Bay on Jan. 2 after heavy snow, rain and frigid temperatures led to a problem with the vessel's "sea chest," a pipe between a ship's side and a valve in the hull for draining water. (The department blacked out the name of the vessel in the photograph.)

Earlier this month, a derelict tug boat, the Bee, went down in Shoemaker Bay, and five other vessels almost did, after heavy snow loads and single-digit temperatures weighted down Wrangell.

The harbor department impounded the 60-foot Bee in September, Port Director Steve Miller said Friday. His staff had been checking it twice a day but "something broke on the boat that allowed some more water than our pumps could handle," he said.

The boat went down on Jan. 5 after heavy snowfall earlier this month.

It took $21,000 to recover the Bee, Miller said.

"We know who (the owner) is, but it will t...



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