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Press Release | July 15, 2025

MEDIA ADVISORY: Coast Guard to remove the sunken vessel Chaleur near Stockton, Calif.

U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco Incident Management Division: 510-697-9664

Editors' Note: Media interested in attending are asked to RSVP to Sector San Francisco Incident Management Division at 510-697-9664 no later than 3 p.m. Thursday.

WHAT: Coast Guard Sector San Francisco to conduct removal and salvage operations of the vessel Chaleur

WHO: U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco Incident Management Division

WHEN: Friday, July 18th from 8 a.m. - 10 a.m.

WHERE: Little Potato Slough at the intersection of Empire Tract Road and Eight Mile Road, Stockton, San Joaquin County. GPS Coordinates: 38º03'27.5N 121º30'04.4W

SAN FRANCISCO —The Coast Guard will be overseeing the removal and destruction of the vessel Chaleur, a historic 140-foot former Canadian Navy minesweeper that sank in Little Potato Slough, causing an environmental pollution event in a navigable waterway. The Chaleur will be the third large-scale removal operation Sector San Francisco has conducted from Little Potato Slough in the past year after the vessels Aurora and Fir. Interested media outlets may RSVP and attend the media open house from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Friday. 

-USCG-


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