A salvaged “Irma” catamaran. Clearly visible is where barnacles have attached. These will easily grow on every item on sunken vessels, including machinery and systems, ruining their functioning. The work it takes to repair damaged items might cost more than the vessel is worth. Photo: AquaCruise Yacht Charter.
~ Our stalemate situation ~
Editor’s note: The Weekender asked Robbie Ferron, President of St. Maarten Marine Trades Association (SMMTA) and General Manager of Budget Marine, to comment on a pertinent issue facing the local marine industry. Unexpected restrictions following Hurricane Irma were part of what has caused a major issue still being faced: the boat wrecks littering St. Maarten’s waters. In the Simpson Bay Lagoon alone, there are still approximately 100 un-salvaged boats. Last month, Ferron announced that SMMTA had established that the salvage permit requirement was no longer in place.
It seems strange that boats that are normally in the water (floating) are in a totally different situation when they are not floating and immersed.
When Hurricane Irma hit in 2017, huge losses were incurred as a result of the hurricane. Unfortunately, due to a strange policy, these losses were exacerbated due to a salvage policy that delayed removal.
A vessel floating is designed in such a manner that when it floats, the ship’s systems are isolated from the sea water. However, when a vessel is immersed (sunk) the sea water causes a wide range of destructive processes to occur which are highly damaging for the vessel and quickly result in severe and usually total loss unless the vessel is quickly salvaged.
The result is that the value of a vessel diminishes very rapidly when immersed, which explains why rapid salvage is so important. After about six months, it is almost certain that in most cases, the majority of the value of the vessel has disappeared.
The deterioration when a vessel is immersed is accelerated when there are many batteries on board, which, while discharging themselves, will cause currents to destroy other metal parts. When the batteries are discharged, there is also the battery acid which damages neighbouring items.
Even when there are no batteries on board the vessel, there are still likely to be stray currents that cause damage, some of these as a result of the different metals that are not designed for immersion becoming “batteries” themselves, such as when aluminium and stainless steel are together underwater.
Barnacles grow unusually fast in warm tropical water, especially when there are plenty of nutrients present as is the case in the Simpson Bay lagoon. Removing these barnacles is extraordinarily labour intensive.
The result is that the vessels that have been immersed for a long time soon have little value and the cost of removing them is substantial. That is the challenge that Sint Maarten is now going to be faced with as the Hurricane Irma boats that remain immersed or partially immersed are not dealt with.
If ever we were to have another Hurricane Irma, the goal should be to facilitate salvage as fast as possible after the incident. This will decrease the possibility that vessel owners lose interest in salvaging their vessels due to the value having disappeared. The best options for damage minimalisation are all immediately after the incident. Delay causes proportionally greater problems.
Sint Maarten Marine Trades Association (SMMTA) has suggested the creation of a compulsory wreck removal insurance. Some vessels are insured and some are not. The community’s interest is not in the insurance of the vessel’s value as a whole, but rather in the cost of clearing the wreck. The cost of such insurance should not be high and would prevent the lose-lose stalemate situation we are currently faced with.
