USS Guardian Aground: U.S. Navy To Dismantle Ship Stuck In Philippines [View all]

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/uss-guardian-aground_n_2580891.html



The USS Guardian sits aground on the Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines, Jan. 22, 2013. The Navy announced that the minesweeper will require sectional dismantling to remove it from the World Heritage Site.

USS Guardian Aground: U.S. Navy To Dismantle Ship Stuck In Philippines
01/30/13 10:04 AM ET EST AP

MANILA, Philippines — The U.S. Navy said Wednesday that it would dismantle a minesweeper that ran aground on a coral reef in the Philippines after carefully studying all options on how to remove the damaged ship.

Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. James Stockman said dismantling the USS Guardian was determined to be the solution that would involve the least damage to the Tubbataha Reef, a protected marine sanctuary where the ship got stuck Jan. 17.

He said the Philippine coast guard was reviewing the plan, but gave no other details.

The Navy had said previously that the Guardian would be lifted by crane onto a barge and taken to a shipyard, but apparently the damage was too extensive and it will have to be cut up and removed in pieces. Stockman gave no time frame for the operation.