March 9, 2009. ROGERS SURVEYING, PLLC was contracted by Castlerock Risk Services to locate a 15,000lb anchor reportedly lost off a ship in Stapleton Anchorage, New York; creating a hazard to navigation in the area. Upon receiving an approximate location of the vessels position at the time loss, Rogers Surveying dispatched a hydrographic survey crew to the site from our office in Staten Island aboard the Red Rogers; a 36 foot catamaran survey vessel.  

The initial task upon arriving on site was to create a search pattern of lines at the last known reported location and bearing of the ship that lost the anchor. Sidescan was deployed immediately and range was set to provide an optimum coverage to resolution ratio given the size of the object and bottom type. The sidescan survey commenced at 11:39 and at 12:01 we located an object resembling the description. The target was then run out at a smaller range and deeper tow to give us the best resolution to determine the type and size of the anchor. It was then confirmed as the correct anchor size and type. Our multibeam system was then used to find the precise depth of and around the anchor. Multibeam data was tide corrected using real-time RTK during the survey. Data was transferred to the office for final processing and submitted to the client.

The client determined that an extraction would occur on March 14th. The survey vessel Red Rogers once again transited to the site where a buoy was deployed to mark the anchor location. A spud barge was placed along side the buoy for extraction. Divers descended the buoy and were guided to the precise location by real-time sidescan provided by Rogers. The anchor was attached to the crane barge via a steel cable and was safely removed from the bottom.