The U.S. Coast Guard and other partner organizations raised a tugboat Friday, nearly two weeks after it sank in San Francisco Bay near Pier 1 at Treasure Island, but authorities are still deciding today on how to remove the vessel from the area, a petty officer said.
The U.S.S. Wenonah sank at its berth on the southeast side of the island on Aug. 17, causing an oil sheen when residue from the engine leaked out of the sunken vessel.
The Coast Guard, assisted by the California Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response and other partner organizations, completed salvage operations of the 300-ton boat Friday.
The tug’s owner, the Historic Tugboat Education and Restoration Society, had been responsible for salvaging the boat, but the Coast Guard decided it was necessary to raise the vessel out of the water to prevent it from damaging surrounding ecosystems.
The Coast Guard contracted Global Diving and Salvage to retrieve the tug from the water, and a barge crane from a subcontractor, American Bridge-Flour Joint Venture, was used to raise the boat from the bottom of the bay Friday.
The tugboat was raised, but the barge is not large enough to transport the vessel away from Treasure Island, according to the Coast Guard. A plan to move the boat is currently being formulating, the petty officer said.
The U.S.S. Wenonah was built in 1940 and spent 33 years in service before it was decommissioned in 1974.
