Post by Retrovision on Jul 24, 2006 22:08:40 GMT -8
I caught a brief story about this earlier today, but only realized the magnitude when Karl led me to this story from CNN (Thanks, Karl).
Ironically I caught this picture of what I assume is a ship of the same line (This one called Planet Ace) unloading cars from Asia on the other side of the George Massey Tunnel (in Richmond), while speeding by on the bus:
Crew set to abandon listing ship
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 Posted: 0335 GMT (1135 HKT)
Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved. Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Coast Guard and Alaska Air National Guard were sending helicopters and other rescue craft to pick up the 22 crew members of the car carrier, The Associated Press reported on Monday.
The Cougar Ace, which is flagged in Singapore and was carrying 4,813 cars, was taking on water, listing sharply and leaking fuel off the Alaskan coast, the U.S. Coast Guard said earlier.
"For their safety, it's best for them to come off the ship," AP quoted Lt. Mara Booth-Miller as saying. She said it was "very probable" that part of the deck was under water.
"It's sitting on its side, basically," Petty Officer Stephen Harrison told AP.
The car carrier reported late Sunday that it was listing at an 80-degree angle 500 nautical miles (804 nautical kilometers) southwest of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, said Petty Officer Eric J. Chandler, from the Coast Guard center in Juneau.
But he said it was unclear "what caused the damage or how much water it is taking on."
Earlier Monday, a Coast Guard plane dropped three life rafts, but roiling waters pushed the rafts underneath the dipping port side of the ship, AP reported.
Rescuers tossed an additional raft along the higher starboard side, but it was a 150-foot (45.72 meters) drop to the water and beyond their reach, AP added.
One crew member had a broken leg, but no other injuries have been reported.
The 654-foot (196-meter) Tokyo-based ship is owned by Matsui OSK Lines and was carrying the vehicles from Singapore to Vancouver when the problem emerged.
Some of the ship's 430 metric tons of fuel oil and 112 metric tons of diesel was leaking, and a sheen extended 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the ship, Chandler said, citing information from a Coast Guard C-130 flying over the ship.
A merchant marine ship crew that had been in the area reached the vessel Monday morning, AP reported. The crew of that ship tried, but failed, to rig a line to the Cougar Ace to keep it from tilting further.
A Coast Guard cutter was on its way to the area and is expected to reach the car carrier on Tuesday, AP reported.
Ironically I caught this picture of what I assume is a ship of the same line (This one called Planet Ace) unloading cars from Asia on the other side of the George Massey Tunnel (in Richmond), while speeding by on the bus:
Crew set to abandon listing ship
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 Posted: 0335 GMT (1135 HKT)
Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved. Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Coast Guard and Alaska Air National Guard were sending helicopters and other rescue craft to pick up the 22 crew members of the car carrier, The Associated Press reported on Monday.
The Cougar Ace, which is flagged in Singapore and was carrying 4,813 cars, was taking on water, listing sharply and leaking fuel off the Alaskan coast, the U.S. Coast Guard said earlier.
"For their safety, it's best for them to come off the ship," AP quoted Lt. Mara Booth-Miller as saying. She said it was "very probable" that part of the deck was under water.
"It's sitting on its side, basically," Petty Officer Stephen Harrison told AP.
The car carrier reported late Sunday that it was listing at an 80-degree angle 500 nautical miles (804 nautical kilometers) southwest of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, said Petty Officer Eric J. Chandler, from the Coast Guard center in Juneau.
But he said it was unclear "what caused the damage or how much water it is taking on."
Earlier Monday, a Coast Guard plane dropped three life rafts, but roiling waters pushed the rafts underneath the dipping port side of the ship, AP reported.
Rescuers tossed an additional raft along the higher starboard side, but it was a 150-foot (45.72 meters) drop to the water and beyond their reach, AP added.
One crew member had a broken leg, but no other injuries have been reported.
The 654-foot (196-meter) Tokyo-based ship is owned by Matsui OSK Lines and was carrying the vehicles from Singapore to Vancouver when the problem emerged.
Some of the ship's 430 metric tons of fuel oil and 112 metric tons of diesel was leaking, and a sheen extended 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the ship, Chandler said, citing information from a Coast Guard C-130 flying over the ship.
A merchant marine ship crew that had been in the area reached the vessel Monday morning, AP reported. The crew of that ship tried, but failed, to rig a line to the Cougar Ace to keep it from tilting further.
A Coast Guard cutter was on its way to the area and is expected to reach the car carrier on Tuesday, AP reported.
