Workers remove exhaust pipes from USS Guardian’s funnel

MANILA, Philippines - Workers continued to make progress in dismantling the US Navy minesweeper USS Guardian stuck in Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea since last January.

Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista, Coast Guard Palawan District commander, said workers removed the exhaust pipes at 9 a.m. yesterday.

At around 11 a.m., the remaining funnel or stack base section was cut in half, with the first half on the starboard side lifted and transferred to Jascon 25, a crane ship from Singapore.

In a radio interview last week, Evangelista said salvage work on the Guardian may go beyond Holy Week or end-March, beyond the original deadline of March 23 because of delays brought by bad weather, Evangelista said.