Salvage of the S/V Orinoco & S/V Cirrus

While Safe/Sea crews were patrolling other harbors on October 28, 2006, S/V Cirrus and S/V Orinoco broke free from their moorings and were grounded ashore in Dutch Harbor.

Later that evening, Safe/Sea's Emergency Response Center received a phone call from the owners of these vessels reporting that they were aground and in need of salvage services. Soon after sunrise the next morning, Captain Peter Andrews and deckhand Nicholas LeBlanc went out to Dutch Harbor to take a look at these two vessels.

Once on scene, it was observerd that both vessels were hard aground and even at high tide, were a distance from the water's edge. (This was due to the storm surge at high tide from the storm that weekend). After observing the vessels, taking pictures, and speaking to the vessels' insurer, Safe/Sea was hired to remove both vessels from the beach.

Later that week, each of these vessels had to be properly hull strapped, rigged, and carefully pulled from the beach. On each operation, Safe/Sea used two of its 35-foot rescue vessels (M/V Newport and M/V Salvor) at the same time to pull on the beached vessels.

While Captain Andrews & deckhand Rob Hutchison were aboard the M/V Newport and Captain LeBlanc and deckhand Nick LeBlanc were aboard the M/V Salvor, Captain Casey remained on the beach with the casualties. Each of the sailing vessels were carefully pulled from the shore, thoroughly inspected, and delivered back to their respective owners. A video of the S/V Orinoco's final moments aground can be seen below.