SEATTLE — Response teams continue to take gradual steps to remove the Aleutian Isle from the seafloor after the 49-foot fishing vessel sank last weekend west of San Juan Island.
Teams are moving forward with a plan to remove the whole commercial vessel and have it placed onto a barge, where contaminants can be safely removed, according to a Friday news release from the U.S. Coast Guard 13th District Pacific Northwest.
“This is the best course of action to ensure the removal of as much pollutants and contamination as possible from the environmentally sensitive area,” the statement said.
Unified Command — made up of the Coast Guard, the Washington State Department of Ecology, the San Juan Office of Emergency Management and the Swinomish Tribe — has paused its dive operations while it waits for specialized equipment, necessary because of the significant depth. Dive operations will resume in a few days, after the equipment arrives from an onshore facility, the statement said.
Meanwhile, crews continue to monitor the vessel, which remains upright on the seafloor after sinking an additional 100 feet earlier this week, the Department of Ecology reported.
When the vessel began sinking the afternoon of Aug. 13, the Coast Guard reported it had landed between 100 and 150 feet below the surface. No one was hurt.
Within two days, the vessel had shifted and descended to about 200 feet below the surface.
The crew has estimated the boat was holding about 2,500 gallons of diesel out of a 4,000-gallon capacity. About 100 gallons or so of lubricant and other oils used in boat engines were also on board when the vessel sank off Sunset Point on San Juan Island.
Diesel and gasoline can evaporate in the kind of warm weather we are experiencing, Ty Keltner, communications manager for the state Department of Ecology’s Spill Program, told The Seattle Times earlier this week.
All five crew members aboard the Aleutian Isle were rescued by good Samaritans before the Coast Guard arrived. No whales had been spotted nearby, but observers are continuing to monitor for activity, the Department of Ecology said.
A week later, few details have emerged around what led to the sinking. According to the Coast Guard on Friday evening, the cause remains under investigation.
Safety zones currently extend about 1,000 yards around all responding dive boats, the statement said.
More information about the wreck can be found on the Department of Ecology’s website.
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(Information from The Seattle Times archives is included in this report.)
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