Anchorage diver Steve Lloyd tells the Press that the science of oil recovery from shipwrecks is in its infancy.
Lloyd isn't cynical about this stuff, but he does figure a dry-land assessment of Alaska shipwrecks might yield tanks larger and more threatening than those on the Princess Kathleen. "Location is critical, because in the case of ship that's sunken in the open ocean, there is no practical thing that can be done -- and deep water in Alaska doesn't always mean far from shore. ... It's known that these wrecks exist. It is known or could easily be ascertained which ones are at risk, and it would be nice to do something proactive," he says.
Dagmar Etkin, a consultant to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who maintains databases of "undersea threats," tells the Press there are 77 vessels known to have sunk in Alaska waters with fuel onboard, mostly in the Aleutians.
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