( CNN ) -- A 224-foot-long U.S. warship will have to be cut into smaller pieces to get it off a Philippine reef where it grounded two weeks ago , Navy officials said Wednesday . They said that 's the only way to prevent further damage to the Tubbataha Reef , a Philippine national park and UNESCO World Heritage site , where the USS Guardian , an Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship , ran aground on January 17 . Survivors mark anniversary of cruise ship grounding . Lt. Anthony Falvo , a U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet spokesman in Pearl Harbor , . Hawaii , told CNN on Wednesday that Navy salvage experts are still . formulating the details of how they 'll cut up the 1,312-ton minesweeper . Crews are now working to remove any hazardous materials from the vessel and will look to save anything that could still prove useful to . the Navy . The ship 's 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel were removed last . week . `` We will strip it out beforehand . We 'll work to salvage any parts that . can be salvaged , '' Falvo said . Then the cutting will begin . Illegal weapons seized from ship . Heavy-lift cranes are expected at the site of the grounding , about 80. miles ( 130 kilometers ) east-southeast of Palawan Island in the Sulu Sea , . in the next few days , Falvo said . The cranes will lift the pieces of the . Guardian onto barges or other ships to be taken away . Last week , the Navy said it hoped to lift the ship off the reef in its . entirety . But Falvo said Wednesday that after reviewing all the . alternatives , it was decided it would have to be cut up . After it struck the reef , initial efforts to free the Guardian at high . tide were unsuccessful . Its crew of 79 was evacuated to other vessels , . and the ship was battered by waves that pushed it farther onto the reef , . causing leaks in its wood-and-fiberglass hull . `` The ship can not move on its own , and it is not operational , '' Rear Adm. Tom Carney said last week . Stripping , cutting up and removing the Guardian from the reef could take . more than a month , Falvo said Wednesday . This is n't the first time the Navy has had to undertake such an . operation , but it has n't happened in more than 40 years . In August 1971 , . the supply ship USS Regulus grounded in Hong Kong harbor during Typhoon Rose , Falvo said . It took more than a month to cut that vessel up and remove it , he said . A similar operation was also conducted in 1916 , he said . As for what the loss of the Guardian , one of 14 Avenger class mine . countermeasures ships in the Navy , means for the service , Falvo said it . was too early to speculate . He pointed out that the vessel was in the . 23rd year of its expected 30-year lifespan . The ship cost about $ 61 million to build , Lt. Cmdr . James Stockman , a . Navy spokesman , said last week . As for other costs , Philippine officials said last week that the . Philippines would seek compensation for damage to the reef . About 1,000 square meters ( about 10,760 square feet ) of it have been damaged . `` It 's a damage to a world heritage site . It 's a damage to our natural . resources . It 's a damage to an important site . We can not but put . emphasis on the importance of this reef as a heritage site , '' presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said . Navy commander apologizes for grounding . The reef is home to a vast array of sea , air and land creatures , as well . as sizable lagoons and two coral islands . About 500 species of fish and . 350 species of coral can be found there , as can whales , dolphins , . sharks , turtles and breeding seabirds , according to UNESCO . The salvage operation must ensure that the reef sustains no . further damage , Lacierda said . Navy officials are still trying to determine how the Guardian ended up . on the reef . Stockman , the Navy spokesman , said last week that the U.S. National . Geospatial-Intelligence Agency , which prepares the digital navigation . charts used by the Navy , has reported the location of the reef was . misplaced on a chart by nine miles . `` The U.S. Navy investigation will review what charts Guardian was using . While this erroneous navigation chart data is important information , no . one should jump to conclusions , '' Stockman said . `` It is critical that the . U.S. Navy conduct a comprehensive investigation that assesses all the . facts and circumstances surrounding the Guardian grounding . ''
The minesweeper has been stuck off Philippines since January 2016 . Attempts to free the ship at high tide failed . Workers are removing fuel , hazardous materials , salvageable things . Fragile reef hosts 500 fish species , 350 coral species .