been through the big ditch thats not all sand, the bottom of that 50 ft or so deep chanel is hard that ship is not just stuck in m sand . a ship is more fragel than you know , if reduced in size to 2 feet long or so with the steel reduced in thickness acordingly it would collapse (think tin foil) if you tried to pick it up with your hands . this is a very tricky salvage operation .also i belive there is at least 1 gaurd gate to prevent a current from flowing through the canal