Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard Seventeenth District
 Oil removal from grounded Mar-Gun continues
News Release

Date: March 9, 2009
Contact: Petty Officer Sara Francis
Phone: (907) 271.2660 Ofc.
(907) 321.4510 Mob.

Oil removal from grounded Mar-Gun continues

ST. GEORGE ISLAND, Alaska - Chief Petty Officer Alan Dooley, response member for the Coast Guard National Strike Force - Pacific Strike Team, clears a line away from the transfer hose which could potentially interfere while litering the 112-foot grounded fishing vessel Mar-Gun Sunday, March 8. (Coast Guard photo/PA3 Walter Shinn)   ST. GEORGE ISLAND, Alaska -- Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam Anderson, response member for the Coast Guard National Strike Force - Pacific Strike Team, and Richard Post, Captain of the 112-foot fishing vessel Mar-Gun, work as a team to bring a pump to a staging area Sunday, March 8. (Coast Guard photo/PA3 Walter Shinn)   ST. GEORGE ISLAND, Alaska -- Response members from the Coast Guard National Strike Force - Pacific Strike Team heave a line that connects to a small boat that is transporting personnel from the 112-foot grounded fishing vessel Mar-Gun Sunday, March 8. (Coast Guard photo/PA3 Walter Shinn)   ST. GEORGE ISLAND, Alaska -- Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam Anderson, response member for the Coast Guard National Strike Force - Pacific Strike Team, untangles a line from the transfer hose, which is how the fuel from the 112-foot grounded fishing vessel Mar-Gun will be transferred to shore, Sunday, March 8. (Coast Guard photo/PA3 Walter Shinn)

Editor's Note: All images above were captured Sunday by PA3 Walter Shinn.
Additional imagery is available at http://cgvi.uscg.mil enter Mar-Gun in the search window.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Responders continue efforts to remove fuel from the grounded 112-foot fishing vessel Mar-Gun on St. George Island Monday. Approximately 2,313 gallons of diesel were lightered from the vessel's port tanks Sunday and another 1,500 had been removed by 3 p.m. today. Work will contiue until dusk.

Weather in the area is reported as 30 to 45 mile per hour winds from the southwest decreasing to 25 to 30 miles per hour later today. Rain and snow accumulation up to an inch is also expected.

Shoreline assessments continue. No oiling has been reported on the beach. A subsistence sampling program, lead by the state, is being developed. The unified command recommends no subsistence harvests be conducted in the immediate area until the vessel is removed and sufficient sampling can be completed.

To date neither the 18th century Russian settlement, Staraya Artil, nor the palentological site of the 2,000 year-old marine mammal bones have been impacted. Safeguards are in place to prevent damage to these locations.

"This is a delicate and potentially dangerous evolution," said Cmdr. Joseph LoSciuto, deputy commander Coast Guard Sector Anchorage, "safety of the responders is paramount in this dynamic and sensitive environment."

Assessments of the vessel and its stability are on going. Salvage plans are in development. No injuries have been reported.

The Seattle-based Mar-Gun grounded Thursday morning 200-yards off the north end of St. George Island in the Bering Sea. All five crewmembers were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter and delivered to St. Paul. Response efforts to mitigate the pollution potential began immediately.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Individuals with questions regarding subsistence harvesting on St. George Island may contact Gary Folley, Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation (907) 262-5210 ext.234.

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