ANNA MARIA – The used oil storage tank from the shrimp trawler that sank offshore of Anna Maria on Jan. 8 has been recovered, but there may still be a fuel tank missing, according to Mayor Dan Murphy.
Murphy told city commissioners on Jan. 14 that a 700-gallon storage tank that held used sludge oil was missing. According to the Mayor, that tank was located at some point last week.
At mid-day Sunday, Murphy shared the latest update he received from the U.S. Coast Guard.
“Good morning sir, they were unable to locate the last remaining fuel tank. They concluded fuel recovery operations last night. The tug and barge is going to Tarpon Springs. They will be back on scene this week to conduct salvage operations. Our hopes are that the tank will turn up during the course of the salvage. There’s no longer any signs of pollution on scene, but if at any time they start to get any kind of pollution they will stop salvage and begin recovery of the fuel,” the Coast Guard update said.
The fuel recovery efforts took place about a mile and a half offshore of Bean Point. Sunday afternoon, Murphy received another update regarding the possible missing fuel tank.
“It is unknown if it would have had any product in it. The belief is that if it was still there and had product, we could see an oil sheen. It is believed that this tank either is still in the wreck, possibly drifted out to deeper water or there may have been a possibility that the tank was not on the vessel to begin with. The contractors did conduct an exhaustive search over a two-week period using divers, side-scan sonar, drones and helicopter overflight,” the Sunday afternoon update said.
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