DONG TAM, Vietnam (IO)--The battered
hulk of the Jamaica Bay, the world's fourth largest dredge, is floating again
in the muddy waters of the My Tho River near here.
The Bay, which had dredged up over 2 million cubic yards of
sand and silt to form a base camp for the 9th Inf. Div.'s 3d Brigade, was
sunk by terrorist mines early in January.
The blasts ripped two holes in the sides of the dredge and sent
it to the bottom of the My Tho in 35 feet of water and into the very hole
the Bay was dredging.
It took 100 Navy salvagemen 32 days to raise the dredge.
Cdr. Gene Mitchell, the Navy officer-in-charge of the salvage
operation, said. "The wreck will be repaired. At least four months will be
required to complete the restoration."
The debris, mud and oil must be cleaned out, the holes repaired,
and machinery such as pumps and engines removed, cleaned and repaired before
the Bay goes back (remainder of article not
available) |
