Broken freighter is spilling oil

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Fuel leaking from the hull of freighter that broke in two in the Bering Sea is being called a major spill that could take months to clean up.

The search for six crew members lost in the sea continued in the dark yesterday, a day after the rescue helicopter attempting to lift them to safety crashed.

The shorn freighter spilled thousands of gallons of fuel into the water, and the oil is threatening sensitive wildlife habitats on the western side of Unalaska Island in the Aleutian chain, 800 miles southwest of Anchorage.

"You've got bunker oil streaming from a ship that's broken in half," Kurt Fredriksson, acting commissioner for Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation, said yesterday. "We are in winter and in a very difficult Aleutian Island environment that will put everybody to the test."

The 738-foot freighter Selendang Ayu was cleaved neatly in two, both pieces grounded about 200 feet from shore.

The wreckage of the Coast Guard rescue helicopter that crashed Wednesday while evacuating people from the freighter washed ashore farther up the coast.

The amount of fuel spilled was not known from initial flyover assessments by the Coast Guard, but the freighter was carrying 480,000 gallons of heavy bulk fuel and 21,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

The area near Skan Bay on the western side of Unalaska Island is a wildlife refuge that is home to sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters, tanner crabs, halibut and kelp beds, according to Alena Syverson of the Unalaska/Port of Dutch Harbor Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"It's a pretty rich and abundant area as far as wildlife goes," Syverson said.

Meanwhile, the search continued for the missing crew members, five Indians and one Filipino, in the frigid waters of the Bering Sea.

The Coast Guard was treating it as a rescue mission, although estimates put survival at about three hours in the 43-degree water.

The six were plunged into the sea Wednesday when the rescue helicopter crashed shortly after lifting them from the freighter. Four others, including three Coast Guard personnel, were rescued from the water that evening and were in good condition yesterday.

Coast Guard officials said the cause of the crash was still unknown and a board was being created to investigate the accident.

Rescuers searched into the night for the missing. They battled rolling seas, 30-knot winds and the thin Alaska daylight, but were unsuccessful in finding any of the missing. Last night, officials said the search was being continued into the darkness by boats at the scene.

"It's always challenging in the Alaska environment, but these aircraft crews are some of the best we've got," Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Darrell Wilson said.

The freighter, filled with soybeans and bound for China, had been drifting powerless since Tuesday, when its main engine failed, and all efforts to halt its progress to the shore failed.

Tugboats were unable to hold the drifting freight with tow lines and both of the vessel's anchors broke in shallow waters.

"They struck something when they were in shallow water as the anchor was dragging," Wilson said. "The master said it was taking on water. As the evening progressed ... the vessel split in two."

The freighter belongs to Singapore-based IMC Group.

IMC crew manager Loh C.W. Weng said agents in India and the Philippines had contacted the families of the missing crew members and company representatives were in Dutch Harbor.

"Of course they feel very sad and want to know what is going on. They are praying very hard that everyone is OK. We are praying very hard for them," Weng said.

According to Weng, the missing were Indian citizens Z.M. Vaz, age 46; Blaise M. Mascarenhas, 33; Narendra S. Yadav, 52; Durg V. Singh, 54; and Didlar Singh, 44. Carlos Flores Santiago, 45, is the missing crew member from the Philippines.

Fredriksson said conservation officials were on their way to the scene and that containment equipment was still being located, but the rescue mission and continued bad weather could delay oil containment efforts.

"Logistics are going to be very difficult. We are in a very tough weather window right now," Fredriksson said. "There are only so many boats and so many planes, and they have been directed to the search for life."

IMC has contracted a private spill response company, Fredriksson said. He said the rough seas could help break up some of the oil and disperse it to the open sea.

"That may be a good thing, in terms of shoreline impact," he said.

The Alaska department has started assessing the damage to the environment, part of determining the accountability of the ship's owner.

Spokeswoman Lynda Giguere said conservation officials will be working with the Department of Fish and Game to determine potential threats to wildlife.

"The fuel we're dealing with is No. 6 fuel oil. It's a very dense, viscous oil and it's not easy to clean up," Giguere said.

"This is particularly persistent. It's high viscosity and it tends to remain on the surface. It's not good stuff."

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