Tuesday update:
JUNEAU — The group in charge of removing a 96-foot tugboat from the bottom of the Gastineau Channel will try a different approach after finding the boat too heavy to manage.
The crew used a crane to bring the Challenger, which sank Sept. 12, to the top of the water Sunday, but had difficulty trying to refloat the boat. The boat was expected to be moved to shallower water Monday, where workers could pump out the water to lighten the boat's load, The Juneau Empire reported.
As for how long the process will take, "it's almost impossible to estimate," said Coast Guard petty officer Britany McKibben.
The Challenger was a tug and passenger boat for the U.S. Army until it was decommissioned and sold in 1946. It later operated as a "bunk and breakfast" in Seattle.
Original story:
A salvage operation to lift a tugboat that sank last fall in Juneau's Gastineau Channel was suspended Sunday, with the U.S. Coast Guard saying work would resume Monday.
Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 1st Class Shawn Eggert said in a statement Sunday night that the Challenger, a former Army vessel dating back to World War II that sank Sept. 12 in the channel, is being recovered by Global Diving and Salvage Inc.
Sunday's plan called for a crane, which had passed under the bridge linking Juneau and nearby Douglas Island, to lift the vessel before crews removed water from it. The lift began as planned, but the Challenger couldn't be fully removed from the channel.
"Due to the position of the tug when raised, the crew was unable to complete dewatering as planned," Eggert wrote. "The salvage crew and the Unified Command determined it was prudent to stay operations for the night and continue the hoisting process in the morning."
The Coast Guard had anticipated that work might continue into Monday even before the Challenger was lifted.
"As we work with our team of professionals during this complex operation, we must remain flexible to ensure safety," said Capt. Shannan Greene, the Coast Guard's federal on-scene coordinator. "We hope this good weather continues and we look forward to making more progress tomorrow."
Once recovered, the Challenger will be taken to the Alaska-Juneau Mine dock for full removal of fuel oil and any contaminants. A ring of containment boom has been deployed around the tug since shortly after its sinking.
According to the Associated Press, the Coast Guard plans to recoup up to $900,000 in salvage expenses from the Challenger's owner, identified as artist R.D. Robinson. Robinson, however, is denying that he owns the tugboat.