Motor Vessel Selendang Ayu Unified Command

Joint Information Center

Date:  Jan. 27, 2005
Contact: Joint Information Center
907-581-5178

Coast Guard information officer: (907) 581-7158
State of Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation information officer: (907) 321-5491
Responsible party's information officer: (907) 359-5148

Selendang Ayu update Jan. 27, 2005 3:30 p.m.

KODIAK, Alaska - As of this report, the total volume of fuel initially on board the vessel has been revised to 424,866 gallons of intermediate fuel oil (IFO 380) and 21,058 gallons of marine diesel oil. The midsection fuel tank ruptured when the vessel broke apart and released an estimated 40,131 gallons of IFO  380. The status of the centerline IFO fuel tank #1 estimated to contain 176,473 gallons remains unknown. According to a preliminary tank status report by the lightering team Tuesday, the centerline IFO fuel tank #3 (estimated to contain 104,443 gallons) was found to be tidally influenced and the contents have spilled. An estimate of the total amount of oil spilled has yet to be accurately determined.

Dependent on weather, today’s response activities will include lightering, shoreline cleanup, water quality sampling and wildlife recovery operations. The shoreline assessment team will survey areas in Constantine Bay and Kalekta Bay, and Whale Cove to Pumicestone Bay. The protection group will continue to assess sites with protective booming and reconfigure the boom to increase effectiveness and remove boom that is ineffective or no longer needed. Oil sampling using net tows is scheduled for south of Hog Island, Iliuliuk Bay, and vessel anchoring areas in Broad  and Captains Bay.

On Wednesday, shoreline cleanup crews worked in Skan Bay, Portage Bay, Humpback Bay, and collected 1,388 bags of oily waste (23 cubic yards). To date, cleanup crews have collected 30,701 bags (528 cubic yards) of oily solid waste. As of Tuesday, the protection group has removed 5000’ of boom that is ineffective or no longer needed. They have also decontaminated 4,000 feet of boom.

Weather conditions Wednesday allowed for the first lightering operations since Saturday. The lightering team removed 11,753 gallons of IFO from # 4 port tank. The total volume lightered from the vessel to date is 88,243 gallons of IFO/water and 3,094 gallons of diesel for a total of 91,337 gallons of IFO/water/diesel.

There was one dead oiled bird recovered on Sunday and another two on Monday. There were 13 dead oiled birds recovered on Tuesday, two from Wide Bay and 11 from Chernofski Bay. To date the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that a total of 984 dead birds have been recovered.

Water quality sampling crews pulled the passive sampling crab pots Tuesday and encountered several smears and stains on oiled snares in Dutch Harbor and near Little South America, which is on the south end of Amaknak Island. One tarball was found Wednesday in the area between Captains Bay and Hog Island. All other tows were free of any oil residue. The vessels will continue tows in the Unalaska Bay area.  A new motor vessel Selendang Ayu Oil Spill Fisheries Water Quality Sampling Plan is being developed for the next phase of the program. Further details are available at the Unified Command Website link http://www.state.ak.us/dec/selendang.

To date, seafood inspections at the Dutch Harbor and Akutan processing plants have found all products free of oil contamination. Inspections are conducted throughout the day and night to check crab and pollock as they arrive at the docks.

Vessels from the opilio crab fishery in the Bering Sea have all returned to Dutch Harbor and Akutan. The crab fleet left Dutch Harbor and Akutan Jan.13, and the fleet reported no incidents of contamination. The Unified Command has implemented an enhanced program to protect seafood quality. Shorelines surveys will continue in Unalaska Bay and Captains Bay for tar balls and tar patties.Vessels are using crab pots and tow nets to detect submerged oil, aerial surveys are checking for floating oil, and additional staff from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Health seafood program are inspecting commercial catches at Dutch Harbor and Akutan processors. Pollock fleets are being issued passive oil contamination detection devices per Fisheries Workgroup guidance.

The New Oil Investigation Team (NOIT) remains on stand by to respond to any new oil observed in the Dutch Harbor area.

Predicted weather in Dutch Harbor today calls for cloudy skies, rain, breezy, temperatures in the upper 30s, southeast winds at 10-20 knots, and seas at two to three feet.

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