USS Chehalis Assessment; Pago Pago, American Samoa

Source report excerpt: “Assessment Overview This hotline will follow progress on a salvage assessment being conducted by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard on the sunken USS Chehalis. The assessment of the vessel's condition and fuel load is being conducted in preparation for potentially pumping off the remaining fuel later this year. The USS Chehalis reportedly has been periodically releasing small sheens ever since it sank in Pago Pago Harbor in 1949. The salvage assessment in being conducted by US Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving and the US Navy Mobile Underwater Diving Salvage Unit out of Honolulu, with logistical support from the US Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team, the US Coast Guard Marine Safety […]”

Source report excerpt: “On April 8, a two-week operation to pump fuel off the sunken USS Chehalis wreck was successfully completed. Approximately 55,564 gallons of aviation fuel and 1,269 gallons of diesel fuel were removed from the wreck by the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and the U.S. Navy Mobile Underwater Diving Salvage Unit out of Honolulu, with logistical support from the U.S. Coast Guard. The fuel will be transported by barge to California and then via rail to Kansas City, where it will be used at a concrete manufacturing plant. Operations were completed over a week earlier than expected because less fuel remained on-board than previously estimated and because all operations proceeded smoothly and […]”