Shipping Safety Partnership
The Selendang Ayu disaster
On December 8th, 2004, the Selendang Ayu ran aground near Unalaska killing 6 crew members and releasing in excess of 300,000 gallons of oil into the Bering Sea. Clean up and recovery efforts were halted for 3 months, shortly thereafter, due to inclement weather. Environmental impact reports indicate that over 1600 birds were oiled with a projection of 10,000 plus sea birds expected dead. The inland food chain has, no doubt, been affected as foxes and other scavengers feed on the carcasses of wildlife killed and washed ashore.
The Selendang Ayu was traveling one of the most heavily trafficked shipping routes in the world. It cuts along the Pacific Ocean's " Great Circle Route" through the Aleutian Islands, where every year several thousand ships take the shortest, but most dangerous route between U.S. and Asia ports. The Malaysian freighter ran aground in an environmentally sensitive area so remote that it is only accessible by boat and helicopter, making it difficult to rescue victims and limit the damage to endangered and threatened species, as well as the U.S. fishing industry.
What ACE is doing
ACE is working through the SSP to prevent future spill disasters in the Aleutians. Two of our top priorities have been an Aleutian islands vessel traffic risk assessment (what is being shipped, by whom and how often?) and stationing two rescue tugs in the chain (mimicking the currently affective system in Prince William Sound).
Representatives from the SSP , US Coast Guard, AK Department of Environmental Conservation and US Fish and Wildlife Service attended a March 2005 open forum with the Coast Guard, State, and Federal officials. DEC and USFWS provided recaps of the environmental impact. The USCG announced it would begin tracking ship traffic electronically through the Aleutian Islands this summer, providing data that eventually could demonstrate the need for new equipment to prevent shipwrecks in the heavily traveled region.
