Salvage operations

Abstract

Salvage engineering is a broad-based, interdisciplinary field. Salvage engineers must have a firm grasp on the principles of naval architecture to be able to assess the strength and stability of a damaged vessel. A working knowledge of strength of materials, mechanics, dynamics, and structures is requisite, as is some understanding of soil mechanics, fluid dynamics, coastal processes, safety engineering, and the theory and practice associated with rigging systems design and operation, pumping operations, compressed air system design and operation, metals fabrication, industrial processes, and explosive use. An effective salvage engineer will also be familiar with ship operations, deck seamanship, machinery operation, diving, and oil-spill remediation. That said, an often quoted anecdote states that: Ship salvage is a science of vague assumptions based on debatable figures from inconclusive instruments, performed with equipment of problematic accuracy by persons of doubtful reliability and of questionable mentality. The referenced publications contain thousands of pages of information developed from decades of experience and operations. Anyone undertaking marine salvage operations would be well advised to spend time within these publications to leverage the wealth of that knowledge. The material presented throughout this chapter is from a set of the United States Navy’s Salvage Technical Manuals (Vol. 1-3) [42.1-3] published by Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command, Office of the Director of Ocean Engineering, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving.