Mr. Chips Barge Pulled Off Beach

OCEAN SHORES - It took the combined efforts of a salvage tugboat and a helicopter to get a barge loaded with wood chips off North Beach.

The 250-foot Mr. Chips, owned by Brusco Tug & Barge of Longview, ran aground after breaking loose from its tugboat in a storm Dec. 2.

For more than three weeks, bad weather and a massive sandbar stymied salvage operations. The barge was pulled free about 2 p.m. Saturday by the 200-foot Salvage Chief from Fred Devine Diving & Salvage of Portland.

As the barge moved past some breakers, the crew of the Salvage Chief couldn't reel in the tow line fast enough and Mr. Chips began to drift and turn parallel to the beach.

Salvage crews deployed a Chinook helicopter to drop a line to the barge and finish pulling it out to sea. It is to be unloaded at a Columbia River port.