10 Things That Go Wrong on a Salvage Job

By Gus Marchetti, Salvage master. Reviewed by Dana Whitcombe, technical reviewer.

Marine Salvage & Recovery | Hull & Bottom Cleaning December 11, 2016. Port of Ostend. The wreck was a 1,200-ton coaster sitting on her side at the end of a breakwater. She'd been there for three months, and the client kept saying 'we can have her off by Sunday.' I checked the forecast. Sun. I checked the survey. 'No obstructions around the hull,' it said. We rigged the first lift on Thursday. The wind came out of the north at 3 a.m. Friday. Not a big wind - thirty knots - but the pier fenders turned it into a washing machine. It took us three days to get the lift back off the bottom. That job taught me the difference between a plan and a hope. Since then I've run removals on four continents. The problems that sink a schedule are rarely the big, dramatic ones. They're the silent, boring ones - a chafed hose, a sonar artifact, a client who needs 'just one more thing.' Here are ten I've lived, and what they cost.

The First 48 Hours: Forecasts and Survey Data

1. The forecast is a suggestion, not a contract. I've watched a perfectly calm dogleg turn into a four-metre swell in ninety minutes because a cold front bumped into a warm strait. The reason is simple: the forecast was made for open water, not for the weird boundary layer around a breakwater or sandbar. The fix is to plan for the worst, but also leave slack in every lift. If the weather window closes, you close the job. That call costs money. The wrong call costs everything.
2. The client's survey data is optimistic. I've found wires, steel plates, and a buried anchor chain exactly where the side-scan said 'flat sand.' The reason is resolution: a 540 kHz sonar can miss a thin line or a soft target. The fix is to run your own survey or, at minimum, probe the seabed with a rod under the lift path. Never bet a million-dollar lift on a sonar image.

Hydraulics and Ground Tackle

3. Hydraulic hoses fail at the worst moment. They get chafed by a bulkhead or fatigued by cold water, then they burst while you're holding a ninety-ton load. The reason is that hydraulics work hard and the fluid gets hot. The fix is to carry a spare hose of every length on the spread, plus a cross-thread adapter and enough spare fluid to refill the tank. A spare pack costs a rounding error compared to a hanging load.
4. Anchor and mooring gear is never where the plan says it is. We once dropped a Danforth and dragged it two hundred metres into a sand pocket because the holding ground shifted overnight. Parted lines, overlaid chains, and old scrap all do this. The reason is that charts and memory are not the seabed. The fix is to set each anchor with a pull test, then lay a second anchor as backup. Never trust a single hook under something you're about to lift.

Underwater Clarity and Cutting

5. Visibility goes to zero when you actually need to see. A slight swell turns the seabed into a bowl of milk. The reason is silt, fine sediment, and the current that carries it. The fix is not to fight it. Stop, let the water clear, or shift to slack water. Use a camera, but trust the diver's hands more than the picture.
6. Cutting equipment won't cut what you need to cut. We brought a hydraulic shear to a job with a 30 mm steel plate and watched it bend instead of bite. The reason is that hull steel often has layers, paint, marine growth, and an extra doubler where you didn't expect one. The fix is to have multiple systems: thermal lancing for thick steel, diamond wire for large sections, and a cold cutter if you're near fuel. Never assume one tool solves every shape.

Lifting Points and the People Problem

7. The obvious lifting point is either rusted solid or not rated for the load. It might be a bollard that was decorative, or a pad eye welded on only one side. The reason is that wreck removers don't get the original drawings, and time at sea corrodes what welding remains. The fix is to have the diver or ROV inspect every attachment point before you hook on. Doubt means drill a fresh point and certify it.
8. Someone turns up without the right certification or the right stomach. The dive team might be missing a medical, or a deckhand has never worked on a moving barge. The reason is that crews get assembled in a hurry and nobody checks the paperwork until the boat is underway. The fix is a pre-embarkation checklist, and a two-minute chat with every new guy about where the bathroom is and where the lifeboats are. Sounds basic, but I've seen a qualified rigger freeze on a slick deck because no one told him the railings were temporary.

Currents, Contracts, and the Constant

9. Tide, current, and wind all change at the same time, and they never do it during daylight. A spring ebb plus a sea breeze plus a passing squall turns an easy rig into a swinging pendulum. The reason is that a wreck sits at the boundary of three moving fluids: water, air, and the seabed. The fix is to work the slack, and to have a hold condition for the barge that accounts for the worst combination, not just the single worst item.
10. The client changes the scope without a change order. The phone call goes something like, 'While you're here, can you also clear that old anchor line at the next berth?' The reason is that the client sees your barge and crane on hire and wants value. The fix is to say yes, but with a written variation, a rate card, and a schedule. Say yes without a signature, and you're paying for the fuel and the overtime. You'll own that anchor line forever.

Frequently Asked Questions

You made all these sound predictable. Is there any one that actually scares you? The change in scope. That's the one that scares me. Because when a client starts moving the goalposts, the operational risk goes up silently. You start cutting corners to make the new deadline, and that's when an anchor drags or a hose bursts. I can plan for weather and turbidity easier than I can plan for a client who won't sign. What's the single best thing to bring to a salvage job that most people forget? Spare everything. But specifically spare hydraulic hose and the fittings to adapt it. Also a second anchor and enough wire rope to re-tension. Equipment fails because it's worked hard. The cure is redundancy, not skill. How do you know when to just say no and walk away? When the weather is unsafe, the survey data is lying, or the client won't sign a variation. Also when the crew is exhausted. Fatigue is the root of most injuries. If I can't fix those four things, I'm leaving.