Body of Missing Crane Barge Worker Recovered

The U.S. Coast Guard and other rescue crews have recovered the body of a missing dredge operator from the Christina River. 

The body of Emmanuel Gatling Jr., a dredge maintenance operator for Norfolk Dredging who went missing near the Port of Wilmington after a crane barge capsized Tuesday night, was found around 5:30 p.m. local time, according to officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“My sincere condolences go out the Family, Friends & Co-workers of the deceased,” said on his Twitter page Wilmington Fire Chief, Anthony Goode. “Search & Recovery efforts were conducted in an unstable, hazardous environment by crews determined to find & recover the missing worker,” he said, thanking all those involved with the search & recovery efforts at the Norfolk Dredging incident at the Port of Wilmington.

The accident happened when three crewmembers including 25-year-old Emanuel Gatling fell into the water after a crane barge that was attached to the dredge Essex capsized on Tuesday night. The two men resurfaced from the water while Gatling unfortunately didn’t.

The men were conducting a routine operation, moving anchors in the Wilmington Harbor Channel in order to reposition the barge, when it capsized.

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Dredging Today Staff