Coast Guard Responding to Two Sunken Vessels in Mobile Ship Channel

AIS track of Delta Amber courtesy MarineTraffic.com

The Coast Guard is responding Tuesday to two sunken vessels -a towing vessel and a smaller dredger- which sank in the Mobile Ship Channel, north of Gaillard Island, Monday night.

Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders received a call from the crew of the towing vessel, Miss Sammy Lee, reporting the sinking of two vessels, the 52-foot towing vessel Delta Amber and the 26-foot dredging vessel Nicholas. All three vessels were conducting dredging operations at the time of the incident.

According to local reports, the smaller dredger was tied off on the Delta Amber when the Delta Amber capsized.

The Miss Sammy Lee crew rescued the crews from both vessels Monday evening around 10:46 p.m. There were a total of five crew between both vessels, according to reports.

A Coast Guard Station Dauphin Island small boat crew safely transferred the crewmembers of both sunken vessels from the Miss Sammy Lee to the Dog River Marina with no reported injuries.

Response crews have reported a 50 yard by one mile sheen in the area of the incident. Crews deployed boom around the sunken vessels, which reportedly contained 2,000 gallons of fuel and lube oil combined.

The latest AIS data from MarineTraffic.com shows the Delta Amber underway using engine just south of Mobile, Alabama at 03:31:57 UTC (10:31 p.m CDT) on 13 October.

Response crews continue recovery efforts and developing a salvage plan for the sunken vessels.

The Coast Guard is investigating the incident.