Anchorage Daily News

An oily sheen stretches for miles in Southeast waters after a fishing vessel ran aground and partially sank over the weekend, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The wooden hull of the 82-foot Westward, built in 1943, was punctured twice Sunday when it struck the rocky shore of Point Ildefonso on the southwest side of Prince of Wales Island, the Coast Guard reported.

Because of the damage, the vessel, headed from Ketchikan to Klawock, is almost completely submerged at high tide. Its crew was rescued, but the vessel was hauling 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel and another 300 gallons of lube and hydraulic oils as well as 130 tons of bait herring.

It is unclear if the 2-1/2-nautical-mile sheen is the result of spilled petroleum oils or fish oil, according to the Coast Guard.

Spill response crews laid out a boom to contain the spill, and the Southeast Alaska Petroleum Resource Organization was able to recover about 2,000 gallons of diesel from the vessel Monday, the Coast Guard reported. The recovery effort is continuing today.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

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