Six Men Lost as Grounded Freighter Spills Oil in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, December 11, 2004 (ENS) - A break in Alaska's brutal winter weather Friday gave the crews a window of opportunity to begin efforts to contain fuel oil spilled from a freighter that grounded and broke in two Wednesday in pounding surf, spilling fuel oil off Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Island chain.

Twenty knot winds and eight foot seas allowed crews a small break from the 15 foot seas and 30 knot winds experienced since the freighter's engine lost power, leaving the 738 foot Malaysian flagged Selendang Ayu hard aground about a quarter mile from Skan Bay.

The broken Selendang Ayu aground near Skan Bay on Unalaska Island. (Photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard)

The Selendang Ayu is operated by IMC Shipping of Singapore and was built in Hudong, China in 1998.

Peter Chew, group managing director for IMC Shipping, said in Singapore, "At this very sad moment, I am deeply appreciative for the many heroic efforts made by the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard. It is with deep regret and sadness that we note the suspension of the search and rescue efforts for our brave and appreciated crew."

"At this time, the company offers its sincerest condolences to the families and friends of the lost crew. Again, we are deeply appreciative of the efforts, thoughts and prayers of the community near Dutch Harbor and the world at this moment of loss," said Chew.

An Air Station Kodiak rescue helicopter crashed Wednesday during the attempt to rescue crewmen from the stranded vessel. All Coast Guard crewmembers aboard the aircraft were rescued by another Coast Guard rescue helicopter. Wreckage of the downed helicopter was washed ashore near Skan Bay.

Nine of the rescued crewmen from the freighter remain aboard the Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley, currently on the scene.

The Alex Haley will stay in the area until it is relieved by Coast Guard cutter Sherman, a 378 foot high endurance cutter based in Alameda, California. Other Coast Guard vessels are also on the scene.

The Unified Command established to handle the Selendang Ayu incident has enlisted the help of three commercial vessels and their crews to begin on-water skimming and booming operations in the environmentally sensitive salmon lakes and streams affected by the spill.

The research vessel Cape Flattery plans to deploy boom across three main streams behind the storm burms in Skan Bay, and conduct shoreline assessments looking for any fuel oil that reached the shore.

The bow of the Selendang Ayu (Photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard)

The Redeemer crew will also conduct operations in Skan Bay and is scheduled to stay on scene for eight days. All operations are dependent on the weather, the Coast Guard said.

Aircrews will conduct flyovers to observe the dispersion of the fuel oil overnight through Makushin and Skan bays, and will also fly a salvage team over the wreckage to assess the damage and determine the best course of action.

Damage to the freighter has not been assessed to date because of the challenge of operating in such rough seas.

Oil recovery by skimmers and vacuum pumps can be very effective, early in the spill, the Unified Command said.

"Very little of this viscous oil is likely to disperse into the water column," the Unified Command said in a statement Friday. "However, only 5-to-10 percent is expected to evaporate within the first hours of a spill. Consequently, the oil can travel hundreds of miles in the form of scattered tarballs by winds and currents. The tarballs will vary in diameter from several meters to a few centimeters and may be very difficult to detect visually or with remote sensing techniques."

During the past decade, the U.S. Coast Guard, state and local communalities, in conjunction with the maritime industry, established a response system dictated by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 which enables swift response, including incorporation of sensitive area contingency plans, rapid deployment of response equipment and an incident command structure on site able to develop specific incident actions plans.