June 19, 2009
Friday

The Coast Guard Captain of the Port for Southeast Alaska has placed a captain of the port order on the 42-foot commercial fishing vessel, Moonshadow and the owner has placed an oil containment boom around the vessel after it reportedly grounded 30 miles west of Wrangell at 10 a.m. Monday, June 15th.

The owner was transferred to Petersburg by the Petersburg Boat Detachment and was issued a verbal captain of the port order to boom the vessel, submit a salvage and safety plan and remove the pollution threat.

A Coast Guard boat detachment crew in Petersburg boarded the vessel with dewatering pumps and determined the hull's watertight integrity had been compromised. The operator of the Moonshadow reported to have 300 to 350 gallons of diesel fuel when it grounded.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter was diverted from a patrol nearby to conduct an over-flight and reported a slight sheen around the vessel.

The operator reported the sheen was bilge oil which was discharged during dewatering operations.

The operator of the Moonshadow contacted the Coast Guard Sector Juneau Rescue Coordination Center by VHF radio reporting the grounding. In addition to the Coast Guard crew, multiple good Samaritans and a Wrangell search and rescue crew responded with other dewatering pumps.

No injuries have been reported and the cause of the grounding is not known at this time.

The Coast Guard will investigate the cause of the grounding.

The Moonshadow is home ported in Petersburg.

Source of News:

United States Coast Guard
www.uscg.mil

 

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