July 26, 2007
Thursday

he owner of the NORDIC VIKING, in conjunction with response personnel from the Alaska Chadux Corporation, Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Valdez, and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation are continuing to work on final plans to tow the fishing vessel (F/V) NORDIC VIKING to Seward and complete spill clean-up efforts. 

The fishing vessel, which ran hard aground near Valdez late Saturday evening breaching one of its nine fuel tanks releasing an estimated 3,500 gallons of diesel, was freed from the beach late Tuesday evening after response crews safely transferred 12,113 gallons of diesel off the vessel into awaiting barges.  The engine space and fuel tank have been patched and currently the owner is making final arrangements to have the anchored vessel towed to Seward, Alaska.

Response crews arrived on scene early Sunday afternoon to assess and control the extent of pollution from the F/V NORDIC VIKING.  An estimated amount of up to 3,500 gallons of diesel fuel was spilled upon grounding.

Light, scattered sheening remained in some areas near St. Mathews Bay and Olsen Bay as of Wednesday afternoon.  Efforts to collect that sheening were not feasible.  Shoreline assessment teams are evaluating these areas for any impact, which will dictate any additional response measures necessary.  These teams are comprised of trained monitors from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, NOAA, the Coast Guard, U.S. Forest Service and experts hired by the owners. 

To date, there has been no discernable impact to wildlife and monitoring actions of potentially affected wildlife populations continue.

The cause of the grounding remains under investigation.

Source of News & Photographs:

United States Coast Guard
www.uscg.mil

 

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Ketchikan, Alaska