Coast Guard says contractors to seek mysterious petroleum leak near sunken

The Argo wreck was discovered by Cleveland Underwater Explorers this summer after Canadian Coast Guard overflights dating back to 2012 began to show the sheening that “could not be attributed to any contemporary vessels”, said the 37-page NOAA risk assessment of the Argo.

The Argo’s exact whereabouts have been unknown since waves toppled it during a storm in 1937 in western Lake Erie – about midway between Toledo and Cleveland.

“I knew right away it was the Argo”, he said. “The barge had no business being on the Great Lakes”, he said.

Most shipwreck hunters had long-thought the Argo was a few miles to the north in Canadian waters.

The U.S. Coast Guard was expected to dive with contractors again on Tuesday to address the sheening, which Symons described as “oil spread out very thinly”, as opposed to a thicker oil spill.

Divers who examined the wreckage on Wednesday didn’t notice any leaks at that time, Migliorini said.

The Coast Guard said Sunday it appears the leak is a petroleum-based solvent that evaporates quickly once it reaches the surface.

“Every once in a while, and randomly, we’d get a whiff of something”, he said.

The Coast Guard plans to send contractors out to the wreck site on Monday and also has summoned pollution-control experts to the area to assess the situation, Commander Migliorini said.

A group of Shipwreck hunters and researchers are working to confirm if the wreck is the “Argo”.

This undated image provided by Tom Kowalczk and created with a side…

The barge’s measurements match Argo’s dimensions as listed in historical records and there are no reports of another tanker barge being lost in the same area, he said.