Search continues for sunken trawler’s oil storage tank
ANNA MARIA – About 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel have been removed from the hull of the commercial shrimp trawler that recently sank offshore of Anna Maria, but concerns linger regarding a still-missing 700-gallon used oil storage tank.
The ship’s oil storage tank remained missing Friday afternoon, but no oil slicks or oil spills associated with the shipwreck had been reported.
The remains of the sunken shrimp trawler were located at latitude 27-32.55N and longitude 082-46-440, according to an update Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy received from the Coast Guard.
“It (the oil tank) has not been found as of now,” Murphy said Friday afternoon. “They are using side-scan sonar to try to locate the missing tank, and to see if there are any other tanks or debris in the area.”
Owned by the Tampa-based Versaggi Shrimp Corporation, the shrimp trawler, Warrior, began taking on water Friday evening Jan. 8. In response to the trawler’s distress call, a 45-foot boat from the Cortez Coast Guard station arrived on scene about two miles west of Anna Maria at 7:50 p.m. and removed three crew members from the floundering 70-foot shrimp boat.
The abandoned vessel’s superstructure later broke apart. Early Saturday morning, the majority of the shipwreck debris was discovered near Bean Point in Anna Maria. Debris from the Warrior also washed ashore in Holmes Beach, Bradenton Beach and Longboat Key.
Murphy made city commissioners aware of the missing oil tank when providing them with a “good news-bad news” status update during Thursday’s city commission meeting, which began at 2 p.m.
According to Murphy, the salvage and fuel recovery efforts were taking place about a mile and a half west of Bean Point.
“The real bad news is that there’s another tank that they can’t find. This tank does not hold fuel. It holds black sludge oil. It’s a tank that’s used when you pump out the engine oil – like when you change the oil in your car. They put it into retention and then about every five to six months they pump that out,” Murphy said.
According to Murphy, the missing oil tank has the capacity to hold 700 gallons of used motor oil and he did not know how much oil was stored in the tank when the ship sank.
“That tank has not been found yet. There is no sheen on the water. The Coast Guard’s out there looking at it. The salvage company left yesterday (Wednesday) and I called the Coast Guard this morning,” Murphy said.
Murphy said he asked the Coast Guard if the salvage team had been authorized to leave the scene. Murphy said he was told the Coast Guard did not authorize the salvage team to leave and were ordered to return Thursday morning. Murphy said upon their return, the salvage team once again installed containment booms around the remains of the sunken trawler.
“The divers are still in the water and we still haven’t found this tank. As of 15 minutes before the meeting started, the tank had not been found,” Murphy told the commissioners Thursday afternoon.
“It’s a potential problem. I don’t know how many gallons are in that tank. The Coast Guard doesn’t know. The Department of Environmental Protection doesn’t know. The Coast Guard can’t keep a helicopter out there all the time. They do a flyover now and then. They’re looking for a sheen on the water. As much as I trust Coast Guard, and as much as I trust FDEP, we need our own people out there being vigilant as well,” Murphy said.
The city asks anyone who sees any signs of a potential oil spill to call city hall at 941-708-6130 during regular business hours; or to call 911 at night or during the weekend.
“There’s a weather front coming in Friday afternoon/Friday evening. The salvage company is not going to be able to stay out there during that weather event. So, the salvage company is going as fast as they can to see if they can find this other tank that’s missing. I don’t know what they’re going to do with it – whether they’re going to raise it or pump it out – but that has to be found,” Murphy told the commission.
“There is no evidence of it leaking at this point. There is no sheen. There’s no pollutants going into the water as of two o’ clock this afternoon. That’s the status. I wish it was better news. Everything was going hunky-dory until I heard about the lost tank,” Murphy told the commission.
Regarding the presence of diesel fuel first detected Saturday morning (Jan. 9), Murphy said, “I was worried about the fuel. It smelled all the way from the City Pier down to about Cypress (Avenue). It pretty much dissipated by Sunday morning. A little bit of fuel goes a long way when it’s on the water. It really wasn’t that much.”
Regarding the ensuing fuel containment and removal efforts, Murphy said, “The company hired to do the salvaging of that shrimp boat was out there the day after and the day after that. They put (containment) booms up and they had divers down. The main (fuel) tank held 7,000 gallons. They found 5,000 gallons in the tank and pumped it up and put that in their salvage boat. Then they found two auxiliary tanks. It appears to be the capacity of these two auxiliaries is about 75, maybe 80 gallons.”
Murphy said the auxiliary fuel tanks were also being pumped out.
Successful cleanup efforts
Murphy also provided some positive news regarding the successful debris cleanup efforts conducted by the Anna Maria Public Works Department and Manatee County.
He praised Public Works Manager Dean Jones for his leadership. He also praised Deputy Clerk and Code Enforcement Manager Debbie Haynes for the public notifications she provided at the city website as the situation unfolded last weekend.
“Manatee County did a tremendous job of helping us get all that debris off the beach. They came equipped with backloaders and dumpsters and everything else. It was incredible. As I told Dean when we were on the beach: ‘This is something that wasn’t in that book of how to be a mayor.’ We got it pretty much picked up by Saturday night.”
Commissioner Jonathan Crane asked Murphy if the city will be compensated for the time the Public Works Department spent cleaning up the debris.
“Absolutely, and the county as well,” Murphy said.
“The insurance adjuster came. I was told by the owner of the vessel that he was an insurance adjuster, but I think he’s more of a ship’s agent. He came and he took a lot of pictures. He admitted that all the debris – 80 cubic yards – is all off that trawler,” Murphy said.
Crane said that in addition to the city and county staffs, Murphy should also be applauded for his efforts. Crane said he received his first phone update from Murphy at about 7 a.m. last Saturday.
“I was thunderstruck that Dan was out making phone calls to keep all of us ahead of the curve. I really appreciate it,” Crane said.
“Here, here,” Carter said in agreement.
Related coverage:
Shipwreck debris removed; fuel containment, salvage efforts continue
