Daring divers come up with anchor from 1964 shipwreck

By Kirk Moore - APP

For nearly 45 years recreational divers explored the sunken stern section of the Norwegian tanker Stolt Dagali, lost in a collision in 1964, but only divers Steve and Maureen Langevin of Laurence Harbor knew about the anchor tucked under the starboard side of the wreck.

On Sunday the husband and wife and their team recovered the 5,000-pound piece with help from a Belmar scallop boat, and brought it back to Shark River Inlet.

This morning the anchor should be on its way via flatbed trailer to the Maureen Langevin said.

"It's a big coup for them to have retrieved it," said museum founder Deborah Whitcraft. "If it weren't for the efforts of these divers to bring artifacts back for display, the non-diving public would never see it."

The Stolt Dagali was a 582-foot tanker specialized for carrying its cargo of vegetable oil and industrial solvents when it collided at 2 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day morning with Shalom, a nearly new Israeli luxury liner carrying more than 1,000 passengers and crew.

The impact sheared off the aft third of the tanker, killing 18 crew members.

More to read...