Cousteau’s Ship Raised After Sinking

Oceanographer Jacques Cousteau’s research vessel Calypso, which sank Jan. 8 after being hit by a barge, was finally dragged from Singapore’s murky waters Thursday for repairs at a local shipyard.

The aging wooden vessel was lifted to the surface by a 230-foot crane, patched up and pumped dry. It was to be towed to the Sembawang Maritime shipyard for repairs, a salvage-firm official said.

“The damage to the vessel is limited to water damage. There is a very little hole, but we plugged that up, and she is now afloat,” said Eric Kraan, operations manager with Smit International Ltd.

Kraan said Calypso’s rescue was slowed because the vessel was very fragile and needed careful handling, with special nylon rope slings made to raise the vessel.

The Calypso, which arrived in Singapore after a research and filming mission in China and Vietnam in 1994, was awaiting its next expedition to China when it was hit by the barge.

The converted 66-foot-long British minesweeper, in which the 85-year-old French oceanographer has toured the globe since 1950, sank in about 16 feet of water.

The Paris-based Cousteau Society, which owns the vessel, plans eventually to take it to another port, where it will be retired.

Cousteau has long planned to replace the Calypso and has been raising funds for Calypso II, a $20-million vessel that would be equipped with a marine laboratory, television studio and satellite transmission facilities.