After more than 10 hours of work since first light – and that’s not counting the work done yesterday, after its early-morning sinking – the landing craft Justin has finally been brought up from about 25 feet of water off the 5400 block of Beach Drive. We first reported this about half an hour ago in our earlier updated-throughout-the-day coverage, but now that it’s up, we’re starting a new story. (Added – Colby Chester‘s overview of the scene as it came up:)

A U.S. Coast Guard chopper has been circling the area for the past 20 minutes or so, too. More to come – we’re watching to see what’ll be done with it, now that it’s out.
6:11 PM UPDATE: A Coast Guard news release supplies that answer:

It will remain suspended, allowing water to drain, and placed on a barge that will arrive at approximately 6 p.m.

A team of environmental specialists has completed a shoreline assessment and search for oil at Lowman Beach and Lincoln parks. There is no evidence of oil on the shore, on driftwood or on the absorbent boom near the shore. The team will continue their search for any sign of oil on the shoreline and overflights to monitor the evaporation and breakup of light weathered diesel ribbons that remain.

Wildlife has been reported in the impact area, however no impact to wildlife has been reported. Please call 1-800-22-BIRDS to report impacted wildlife.

We caught up with the aforementioned environmental-specialists team at midday, as they finished checking Lincoln and Lowman Beach parks – that’s part of our earlier coverage. Meantime, the “6 pm barge” isn’t here yet – we’re waiting and watching.

8:01 PM: The barge came into view at dusk. Beach Drive Blog has night photos of the ongoing operation. (Added – a Department of Ecology photo:)

Spending the day on an open sliver of land to watch the progress, we met many interesting people. But one in particular framed the situation in a unique perspective – a woman who identified herself as the girlfriend of the Justin’s namesake owner. She said she hadn’t had much time to talk to him since it happened; she sat on the rocks on the same bit of shore where we were all day, waiting, wondering, worrying. As for why the converted landing craft sank – the official investigation will take time.

10:25 PM: Another update from the Coast Guard, which says, now that the Justin is out of the water: “Prior to repairs being done, Coast Guard and Wash. Dept. of Ecology investigators will examine the vessel in an attempt to determine what caused it to sink. Shoreline assessments of the beaches near Lowman Beach and Lincoln parks will resume at sunrise. A helicopter will also be used at sunrise to assess the evaporation and breakup of the light weathered diesel ribbons that remain.”

11:19 PM: Excellent night shots in the latest Beach Drive Blog update. They report the salvage barge is taking the Justin to Tacoma for repairs work (its owners, Waterfront Construction, however, are based in Seattle).

(EDITOR’S NOTE: WSB has been on scene continuously since 1st light; this coverage runs through the raising of the craft around 5:30; now we have a new followup under way here.)

(Photo courtesy <Colby Chesterstrong>)
9:12 AM: Three cranes are now in place off Beach Drive at the scene where a landing craft turned workboat, the Justin (file photo here), sank on Friday morning, spilling some of its fuel oil and bringing out the U.S. Coast Guard, Seattle Fire Department, state Ecology Department, and salvage crews. (Here’s our original Friday report chronicling the situation throughout Friday morning/afternoon; here’s our Friday night update.) Crews resumed work at first light as promised; our crew at the scene says that so far, there’s been a lot of positioning, in hopes the sunken vessel can be brought up as soon as possible. We’ll be covering it as the operation continues.

10:21 AM UPDATE: The salvage operation continues to proceed slowly. According to a source at the scene who didn’t want to be identified, the Justin is in about 25 feet of water, where riggings are being attached to it for a careful lift-out, but divers and underwater photography shows the water is clear – no sign of any ongoing major leak. That’s also good news along West Seattle beaches. We just talked with an interagency team that has been walking the beaches of Lincoln and Lowman Beach Parks, including U.S. Coast Guard and state Ecology Dept. reps.

They told us everything “is looking good” – no signs of oil damage to the beaches (though some of the diesel sheen was reported ashore north of Lowman yesterday) and no oiled or otherwise-harmed wildlife. A protective stretch of absorbent material is in place to protect the shore along Lowman:

The latest Coast Guard news release notes, “A Coast Guard overflight was launched at first light today and while there is still an oil sheen in the water that was released yesterday, it is very broken up and not recoverable. This oil will continue to weather, dissipate and evaporate through natural wave and wind action.” We photographed the USCG chopper:

And here’s a look at activity offshore:

12:39 PM UPDATE: To answer the most popular question from passers-by – No, it’s not out yet. The crane maneuvering continues, off and on; so does the skimming of water right alongside the barge, where the Justin went down.

2:16 PM UPDATE: It’s a painstaking process. The crane pulleys move a little here, a little there. The drama is going on beneath the surface, we’re told. Among the ever-changing cast of characters at what’s become the semi-official viewpoint on shore for this operation is someone who knows the sunken craft’s owner and quotes him as saying, as of a half-hour or so, they were working on “flipping” it. A little earlier, we caught the photo you see above, as what appeared to be soiled absorbent material was hauled out of the water – NOT indicative of a wider spill, we should note, but perhaps from the sunken craft itself.

2:33 PM: Beach Drive Blog, which is headquartered within view of the site, says they’re seeing a bit of the craft – check their updated coverage here.

3:09 PM: Progress continues. That’s our latest view.

4:19 PM UPDATE: And they’re still working on it! We’ve leaned a little more about the sunken vessel. It’s named after its operator, who is out on the barge as part of the operation. If you’re watching from shore parallel to the scene, most of what’s happening is between the big barge in the background and the crane superstructure that says “American Construction.” Intermittently, you can hear the screeching and grinding of the pulleys and other equipment involved.

5:32 PM: Finally it’s significantly visible – the wheelhouse and beyond- from where we have spent the past 10-plus hours:

It’s the red structure, with a life ring on the left.

6:21 PM: In case you have this one bookmarked – we’ve started a new story to track what happens next: find it here.