Responders assess a sinking barge by Shaw’s Fish and Lobster Wharf in New Harbor the morning of Friday, May 3. (Molly Rains photo)
In Bristol on Friday, May 3, crews worked together for more than 12 hours to protect the waters around Shaw’s Fish and Lobster Wharf and recover a barge that partially sank that morning.
Members of Bristol Fire and Rescue, barge owner Tucker Phinney, of New Harbor Marine Construction LLC, responders from the United States Coast Guard Station at Boothbay Harbor, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and salvage company Determination Marine, of Portland, worked together through the morning and afternoon to recover the craft.
The craft was a spud barge, a construction craft that is moored on metal poles, or “spuds,” driven into the muddy floor of the harbor. Ordinarily, attachments to those poles allow for the barge to move up and down as the tide rises and falls, said Bristol Fire Chief Scott Sutter Jr.
On Friday morning, Sutter said, it appeared that the bow of the barge became caught on one of those poles. This “did not allow the barge to move up and down freely,” causing the bow to ultimately become stuck below the rising tide, where its hull filled with water, Sutter said.
Though the barge was eventually lifted from the harbor floor by responders, the outboard engine, on-board electronics, and a skiff tied to the barge were all lost, Phinney said.
The diesel engine and hydraulics are not currently working either, and Phinney said he hoped they would be running again soon.
Phinney said that a thunderstorm on Thursday, May 2 had caused him and his team to pack up quickly the afternoon before the event.
“It’s dangerous to be working on the water in a thunderstorm – especially when you’re working with a crane,” he said.
Phinney said he learned about the condition of the barge the morning of May 3.
A barge is partially submerged as the tide rises in New Harbor the morning of Friday, May 3. The scene would take more than 13 hours of work from Bristol Fire and Rescue, a salvage team, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Maine Department of Environmental Protection to clear, according to Bristol Fire Chief Scott Sutter Jr. (Molly Rains photo)
The Lincoln County Communications Center paged Bristol Fire at approximately 8:30 a.m.
For responders, “our main objective was to try and contain any fluids that may have leaked out and protect the lobster wharf next door, as they had lobsters in crates floating on their docks,” Sutter said.
At the time that the fire department was notified of the event, the barge was partially submerged, and “there was a thin sheen covering the whole inner harbor due to the wind and tides,” Sutter said.
Sutter said that it was unclear how much fluid had spilled. However, he said, “there were approximately 100 gallons on board,” including diesel fuel, gas, and hydraulic oil.
Responders deployed a containment boom to prevent further leaked fluids from spreading throughout the scene.
“The Coast Guard assessed the situation, took some information, and deemed it a minimal impact,” Sutter said.
The salvage crew then used inflatable bags to raise the craft’s bow from the bottom of the harbor before pumping the water out of the hull. When the water had been removed from the hull, the team worked on cleaning and restoring the barge.
Sutter said that the Department of Environmental Protection arrived later in the day and provided more absorbent booms and “guidance on containment” of the spill, Sutter said.
“It was a pretty low key, slow process,” he said.
Sutter said that there were no injuries throughout the incident, and Bristol Fire and Rescue cleared the scene at approximately 9:30 p.m.
Phinney, who continued working on the barge until 11 p.m. that evening, is focused on getting the barge running again in order to get back to business.
“We’ve got a lot of projects ahead of us,” Phinney said.
