Photo By Chief Warrant Officer Sara Muir | Lt. Will Cotta, Coast Guard Salvage Engineering Response Team, works out of Sector...... read more read more
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During the efforts to get the Pacific Paradise off the reef in Waikiki, multiple experts from different fields and agencies have been continuously working together.
Throughout this week we will be introducing you to these experts, to learn a little more about the important roles they play to make this operation successful, in our series #AsktheExperts.
Lt. Will Cotta of the Coast Guard Salvage Engineering Response Team is our first expert!
Background:
2007 to 2011 - Coast Guard Academy naval architecture and marine engineering, graduating with high honors.
2013 to 2015 - Massachusetts Institute of Technology mechanical engineering and research assistant focusing on energy efficiency and sensor technology on Coast Guard and Navy ships as well as Army forward operating bases.
2015 to present - Marine Safety Center machinery branch, staff engineer, specializing in LNG propulsion and cargo systems. Also, a serving member of the MSC Salvage Engineering Response Team.
Q. What is your role in the response?
A. As a member of SERT my role is to be on scene representing our team, and providing information to the Federal On Scene Coordinator. I facilitate communications between the salvors and the FOSC, translating the concerns of the FOSC into actionable feedback on the salvors’ plans. I also ensure the plan is executed safely and reevaluate at every step.
Additionally, I bring the technical expertise developed through my education, and our extensive salvage engineering training program, to identify potential hazards and omissions in a plan. I can then help develop mitigation strategies and contingencies if things don’t go as planned.
When a member of SERT is responding to an incident, the greatest strength we bring to the FOSC is the full support of our team back at the Marine Safety Center. My recommendations are vetted and calculations checked, helping us provide accurate information and well-reasoned advice.
Q. What is the SERT?
A. SERT, or the Salvage Engineering Response Team, provides immediate 24/7 naval architecture and salvage engineering support to Coast Guard units in response to vessel casualties, including grounding, sinking, capsizing, allision/collision, and structural damage. SERT members are post-graduate trained naval architects and marine engineers, with expertise in commercial vessel design, construction, structures, and stability.
Once selected as a SERT member, we also receive extensive training and qualification in salvage techniques and salvage engineering. Many of us also have at-sea experience aboard ships, are qualified marine inspectors, and have Professional Engineering licenses.
Additional info here: http://www.dco.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Prevention-Policy-CG-5P/Commercial-Regulations-standards-CG-5PS/Marine-Safety-Center-MSC/SERT/
Q. What is the process and purpose of the modeling you are doing?
A. We create a three dimensional computer model of the vessel using known information about the shape and structure of the hull and the arrangement of the compartments inside the vessel. Ideally a model was created when the vessel was built, but if a model isn’t available, we typically have access to drawings of the vessel. Using a drawing of the vessel we can construct the computer model which can then be manipulated by adding and removing water from different compartments to predict how the vessel will respond to a planned salvage.
In this case, despite extensive searching, we were unable to find any plans of the vessel, and so we sent the salvage team out with a tape measure to bring back measurements of the vessel. Luckily longline fishing vessels are built to similar designs, so using a model of a similar fishing vessel, we scaled it to fit the measurements the salvage team took.
This does not provide an exact model of the vessel, but it allows us to provide a general prediction of how the vessel will respond as we remove water from different compartments and tanks.
Q. What is the benefit of the modeling?
A. Using a computer model of a vessel allows us to run through numerous loading and flooding scenarios very quickly, and identify potentially unsafe conditions as well as evaluate the feasibility of salvage plans.
In the case of a sunken or grounded vessel, a model allows us to calculate when or even if a vessel will refloat as compartments are dewatered, and assess the vessel’s stability after refloating. Marine salvage can be at times more art than science, and it’s important to remember that when looking at a computer model.
A single scenario evaluated with a computer model does not guarantee success. We run many scenarios, varying things like the weight of the vessel and where that weight is centered, to determine how uncertainty about the vessel’s condition will affect the success of a salvage plan. Even with all of this analysis, salvage is still a dynamic evolution with high levels of uncertainty. The way we mitigate the risks associated with uncertainty is by using much higher factors of safety than used in normal commercial vessel operations.
Q. What has been your biggest challenge in this response?
A. The vessel is located in a surf zone, which is one of the most challenging environmental conditions for salvage and wreck removal. Our top priorities are always safety and protecting the environment, and in conditions where waves are breaking on the vessel we have to focus on these even more. In building a model of the vessel and evaluating refloat scenarios, we focus on ensuring that we don’t overestimate the amount of buoyancy we will recover, or underestimate the weight of the vessel.
By evaluating numerous conditions, we can figure out where the plan may not be successful, and ensure that contingencies are in place to account for those potential pitfalls. In a dynamic environment, planning is more important than ever, because once the vessel starts to float again, it’s going to start moving, and it’s critical to have an understanding of when that will happen and how the vessel will react.
| Date Taken: | 11.21.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.21.2017 16:55 |
| Story ID: | 256184 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 77 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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