Amazingly, the Mazdas may be OK.
Crews have righted the huge car carrier Cougar Ace, the ship that went sideways 230 miles south of the Aleutians, and are preparing to tow it to Portland, Ore., according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
It could be ready to leave Sunday or a couple of days after that, said Cmdr. Joe LoSciuto, who is deputy over the Western Alaska Coast Guard sector.
The ship keeled over onto its port side July 23 as the crew was attempting to adjust the ballast water at sea. International rules require a change of ballast before a foreign ship comes into port so that the ballast doesn't contaminate local waters with unfamiliar species that could become a nuisance, LoSciuto said.
The Cougar Ace has been moored at Icicle Seafoods' buoys in Wide Bay, northwest of Dutch Harbor, since tugs pulled it in Aug. 8. Workers finally stood it up straight Thursday night.
The Singapore-flagged ship was loaded with the whole inventory of Japanese-built Mazdas sold in the United States -- subcompacts and SUVS, Miatas and RX-8 sports cars, nearly 5,000 vehicles in all, said Jeremy Barnes, a Mazda spokesman.
The vehicles didn't tumble or crash when the ship listed, LoSciuto said. Each was secured to the ship with a "single point device." Mazda assured the Coast Guard that the system had been tested to hold down vehicles twice as heavy, he said.
Mazda wasn't ready to say its fleet is good to go. It needs to examine the cars, Barnes said.
"We don't have a car count as to what is salable and what condition they are in. It all depends on what we find when we get in," Barnes said.
But as far as the Coast Guard could determine, "there was minimal damage to the cars," LoSciuto said. Some seawater seeped in around the wheels of some vehicles, but generally the ship was watertight, he said.
A small sheen of lubricating oil leaked from the ship's bow thruster area Aug. 2 when it was still at sea, but officials haven't been able to determine why.
At the mooring on Unalaska Island, crews pumped out water from a cargo deck, where the sea had slowly leaked in from the cargo door ramp, and then used computer models to help determine how to balance the ship by adjusting water in ballast tanks, according to the Coast Guard.
Workers from Dutch Harbor-based Magone Marine Service Inc. also pumped out oily water from the bilge and shaft alleys. The oily water went into tanks for disposal. It may be carted to Seattle, said John Brown, a specialist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation who spent 10 days on Unalaska Island monitoring the operation.
The salvage is being managed by Titan Maritime.
A naval architect was killed when he slipped and hit his head while on the then-sideways ship. But all the ship's crew was rescued safely by the Alaska Air National Guard and the Coast Guard.
The Singapore government is investigating what made the ship list during the ballast change, which happened in international waters, LoSciuto said.
Singapore must certify the ship is safe for tow before it leaves port, he said.
Under the plan, two tugboats will bring it to Portland, where there are facilities for the vehicles and for ship repair, he said. The trip will take about 10 days.
While the Cougar Ace, owned by Mitsui OSK Lines of Tokyo, does not appear damaged, its systems need to be inspected by experts, according to the Coast Guard. For instance, the bunker fuel thickened in the cold when the ship listed.
Daily News reporter Lisa Demer can be reached at ldemer@adn.com and 257-4390.
