The pictures below reflect a 124 foot US built fiberglass yacht which foundered then overturned offshore in eastern Bahamas, February 2006 under moderate weather conditions. Crew were rescued without incident prior to the vessel overturning. The superstructure came adrift of the hull and Overseas Salvage of Sampson Cay Bahamas took both the overturned hull and floating superstructure in tow. The superstructure was hauled ashore at San Salvador Island for disposal and the hull towed for an additional two days to access the protected waters behind Cat Island. Righting manouvers were undertaken with equipment mobilized from Jacksonville Florida. Upon righting, the remaining portion of the hull was de-watered and found to float without the use of pumps. Initial accident investigation work was conducted on site by insurers surveyors and appointed experts. Subsequent efforts to hoist the intact hull onto a barge were abandoned for safety reasons after several attempts and the hull was instead cut into two parts using a steel cable to saw through the fiberglass at an amidships location in order to preserve the entire engine room for evidentiary purposes. The two sections of the hull were then lifted safely and transported to a Bahamian shipyard for further investigation and storage. All salvage work was done with oversight by the Bahamas government in respect of environmental issues and the salvage site was 100% cleaned of all debris from the cutting and salvage operations before the salvors were released from the job.
