The U.S. Navy will in the Philippines due to fears that removing it intact could cause further damage.
Spokesman Captain Darryn James said on Wednesday that the USS Guardian was already too damaged to repair. “We really do care about being good stewards of the environment,” he said.
The Guardian was en route to Indonesia when it crashed into a reef in Tubbataha National Marine Park; the Navy is currently investigating the circumstances around the grounding.
The Guardian is the first ship to be dismantled by the Navy since 1971. Salvage crews have already removed about 15,000 gallons of fuel from the ship, as well as lubricating oil and paint.
Via