This Soviet-era yacht is believed to be the one that was abandoned and sank in 2016 in Odesa, Ukraine, blocking access to the pier at the naval base. The U.S. Navy and international partners recently removed the sunken wreckage from the harbor as part of the Sea Breeze 21 exercise. (Courtesy of the Ukrainian Navy)
U.S. Navy divers pose before their first attempt to lift a large segment of a sunken yacht out of the water on July 3, 2021. The first piece to come out, the bow section, was badly deteriorated and broke apart when the crane tried to lift it, so these divers began putting pieces into a large basket that the crane could remove. (Megan Eckstein/Staff)
Divers from Underwater Construction Team 1 and Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 were able to lift several large sections of a sunken yacht out of the water in Odesa, Ukraine, during the Sea Breeze 21 exercise in June and July 2021. (Lt. Bobby Dixon/U.S. Navy)
A crane removes the first basket filled with pieces of a sunken yacht at the naval base in Odesa, Ukraine, on July 3, 2021. The bow section was in such deteriorated condition that it had to be removed in pieces via large baskets, but the remaining three large sections of the hull could be pulled up out of the water with a crane. (Megan Eckstein/Staff)
A team of U.S. Navy salvage divers and underwater construction divers broke a sunken yacht into four sections underwater and lifted them up with a crane, clearing the Odesa naval base of wreckage that was obstructing access to several berthing spots. (Lt. Bobby Dixon/U.S. Navy)
Divers from Underwater Construction Team 1 and Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 conduct early missions to remove pieces of a sunken yacht from the naval base in Odesa, Ukraine, on July 3, 2021. After surveying the wreckage, cutting the sunken hull into four large sections and prepping the salvage, the removal effort lasted several weeks and included removing some small pieces via a basket and three large sections via a crane. (Megan Eckstein/Staff)
Divers from Underwater Construction Team 1 and Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 pose along with one of the pieces of a sunken yacht they lifted from the harbor at the Odesa naval base in Ukraine. (Lt. Bobby Dixon/U.S. Navy)