The stern of the USS Guardian, the last piece of grounded ship, is removed by a crane vessel on Saturday, March 30. The U.S. Navy minesweeper became trapped on a reef off the western Philippine island of Palawan on January 17. The Navy has pledged to clean up debris and restore the reef as much as possible.
(CNN) -- Crews have boarded a U.S. Navy minesweeper stranded on a Philippine reef to begin dismantling it, the state-run Philippine News Agency reported Friday.
Meanwhile, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet praised the crew of the USS Guardian for avoiding loss of life when the ship hit the reef early on the morning of January 17.
"From the point on which the ship grounded, the crew worked quite diligently, quite frankly. But even more importantly, they got all 79 of their crew members off that ship and safely back here to Japan," Adm. Cecil Haney said in an interview with the Armed Forces Network that was posted on the unit's YouTube channel.
"They've gone through quite a bit, but it shows you the resiliency of our sailors," Haney said after meeting with the crew at Sasebo Naval Base in Japan, where the Guardian has its home port.
The crew returned to the base on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu shortly after the ship hit the reef. They will remain together at Sasebo until the investigation completed, a Navy spokesman told CNN this month.
In the Philippines, the salvage ship Jascon 25 has taken up a position near the minesweeper on Tubbataha Reef, Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo, a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman, told the Philippine News Agency.
Stormy seas from a tropical depression passing through the Philippines had delayed efforts this week to get the ship in position.
The Navy plans to take parts of the 1,312-ton Guardian off piece-by-piece before cutting the hull up into three parts, according to a report in Stars and Stripes. The stern and bow of the 224-foot-long ship would be lifted off the reef intact, Lt. Frederick Martin, a Navy spokesman, told Stars and Stripes, but the middle portion of the hull is too damaged for that and would be cut into smaller pieces before removal.
Reports have said the operation to remove the ship from the reef would be complete in late March or early April, but a Navy spokesman told CNN that there was no firm estimate on when the work would be done.
"Although we are working as expeditiously as possible, we want to ensure this salvage is done safely while minimizing damage to the reef and surrounding environment," Lt. Anthony Falvo said in an e-mail to CNN.
The Tubbataha Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the Guardian is estimated to have damaged about 4,000 square meters (about 43,000 square feet) of the reef. The Navy has pledged to clean up the debris created when waves stripped off pieces of fiberglass covering the wooden hull of the ship and to try to restore the reef as much as possible.
"The Navy prides itself on being good stewards of the environment and we have taken great care to protect Tubbataha Reef from further damage," Falvo said.
Philippine officials said last month that the country would seek compensation for reef damage. The U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, Harry Thomas Jr., has assured the Philippines that the United States "will provide appropriate compensation for damage to the reef caused by the ship."
The reef is home to a vast array of sea, air and land creatures, as well as sizable lagoons and two coral islands. About 500 species of fish and 350 species of coral can be found there, as can whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and breeding seabirds, according to UNESCO.
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A crane vessel lifts the bow of the USS Guardian on Tuesday, March 26.
The crane vessel pulls the bow off the ship on March 26.
The crane vessel removes a hull section on Wednesday, March 27. The U.S. Navy expects the Guardian to be completely removed from Tubbataha Reef by mid-April, an official says.
The U.S. Navy and Philippines authorities are working to dismantle the ship.
Brandon Berry grinds through steel in the engine room in preparation for removing machinery.
The USS Guardian's funnel section is lifted Tuesday, February 26, as a task force works on removing equipment.
The USS Guardian rocks in the waves on February 8.
The Malaysian tug Vos Apollo removes diesel fuel and human wastewater from the USS Guardian on January 28.
Waves crash against the USS Guardian in January. The minesweeper is estimated to have damaged 4,000 square meters of the Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In this undated photo, a U.S. Navy diver moves damage control equipment and other materials to be unloaded from the USS Guardian.
The Guardian on the Tubbataha Reef on January 19 in a handout photo from the Philippines military.
Anti-riot police disperse protesters in front of the U.S. Embassy in Manila on Friday, January 25. The Filipinos were demonstrating against the grounded U.S. Navy minesweeper and called for the pullout of American troops stationed in the Philippines. They splattered the police with paint.
Malaysian tug Vos Apollo, foreground, prepares to help remove fuel from the USS Guardian while a U.S. Navy boat approaches with a salvage team on Thursday, January 24.
A U.S. Navy salvage assessment team boards the USS Guardian on Wednesday, January 23, in the Sulu Sea.
A member of the Philippines coast guard approaches the USS Guardian on Tuesday, January 22, in a handout picture from the Philippines coast guard.
A diver from the Philippines coast guard measures coral damage on the Tubbataha Reef on January 22 in another handout photo. The reef is a Philippines national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Student activists scuffle with police in front of the U.S. Embassy in Manila during a January 19 protest condemning the minesweeper's grounding.
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