Plan in works to free 'ghost fleet' ship moved by storm

ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY

The Coast Guard continued to work on a plan to move a decommissioned Navy ship that broke free of its moorings during last week's nor'easter and ran aground in Isle of Wight County.

The 700-foot-long Monongahela, a fleet oiler, poses no threat of pollution, Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Scott McBride said Thursday.

The ship, part of the approximately 25-ship James River Reserve Fleet awaiting disposal, was decommissioned in 1999. The fleet is also known as the "ghost fleet."

The Monongahela drifted half a mile in the James River, running aground in the sand of Burwell Bay near the Rushmere Shores subdivision.

"This is going to take, I think, a little bit longer than the barge at Sandbridge because the ship is stuck in the mud," McBride said of the Monongahela.

The La Princesa barge ran aground in Sandbridge. It was freed Wednesday.

Meredith Kruse, (757) 446-2164, meredith.kruse@pilotonline.com

Patrick Wilson, (757) 446-2957, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com