TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale Rescues Luxury Mega-Yacht

March 18, 2005

TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale, a Broward County based company, successfully completed another mega-yacht salvage. This time a 116' Azimut mega-yacht found itself hard aground and sunk on the rock jetty at Port Everglades. During the evening hours on March 16, 2005, a distress call went out from the crew. Hearing the call, all available TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale assets responded to the scene. "This type of call is becoming more common for us," states Larry Acheson, President and Senior Salvage Master. "There are more yachts transiting our waters every season."

The salvage operation covered three days. "The yacht was badly holed," commented Acheson. "The divers patched all accessible openings from the inside of the hull as well as from the outside." While the divers worked, pollution containment booms were placed throughout the area to protect the waters and the delicate turtle nesting areas found along the beach. All of the fuel was carefully removed from the vessel. Large four inch diesel pumps were staged throughout the yacht and as the divers completed sections of patches, the pumps dewatered compartments of the yacht. This process helped reveal additional holes in the hull.

This process continued until the salvage team had patched all visible holes and the yacht was mostly dewatered. With the Captain of the Port and hundreds of by-standers watching, Port Everglades was closed to all boating traffic as the tugs attempted to remove the vessel from its strand. Five tugs, including TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale's 96' Richard L. Becker, carefully maneuvered and finally freed the yacht from the rocks.

Knowing that it was a possibility that the yacht would begin to take on water after being freed from the rocks, two teams of divers stood ready. As the vessel cleared the rocks, Acheson, onboard the yacht, received reports from the salvage team that the yacht was sinking rapidly. Immediately, the divers were deployed to find and patch the remaining holes that were hidden while the yacht was aground. The team worked diligently, divers patching and pumps dewatering, until the yacht began to level out and the water level inside the yacht subsided.

The yacht was towed to Mega Marine on the Dania Cut-off Canal due to its close proximity to the Port. "These patches are only temporary and designed to allow for passage to the nearest haul-out facility," explained Acheson. "We knew the patches would not withstand the strain of the journey up the New River." Once safely docked at Mega Marine, the yacht was hauled from the water.

Years of experience and a skilled crew resulted in a highly successful salvage operation. TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale was founded in 1989 by Larry Acheson. The company operates from three ports and provides towing and assistance to boaters in all of Southeast Florida and the Bahamas. The TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale operation has conducted thousands of salvage operations over the years and routinely assists law enforcement with search and rescue operations.

For more information, contact TowBoatU.S. Ft. Lauderdale at 954-783-7821.

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