Environment

Photos: Fishing vessel sinks near Dillingham

A four-mile-long sheen of what appears to be hydraulic fluid was flowing Monday from an overturned fishing boat near the mouth of the Igushik River outside of the Southwest Alaska town of Dillingham, causing a fishing closure of the surrounding area.

The accident aboard the 78-foot fishing vessel Lone Star occurred early Sunday morning. At about 6:55 a.m. the Coast Guard received a mayday call from a crew member aboard the vessel. The changing tide had reportedly swung the anchored ship into its anchor chain, which caught on the transducer and coolant lines, pulling them loose and creating a hole in the steel hull of the boat.

The four crew members of the ship were rescued by good Samaritans of the nearby vessel Tradition.

The Lone Star is partially submerged in 18 feet of water and reportedly had 14,000 gallons of diesel fuel, 150 gallons of lube oil, 150 gallons of hydraulic fluid and 250 gallons of gasoline on board. The four-mile sheen extends behind the partially submerged vessel, said Coast Guard spokesperson Francis Mooers.

Mooers said they don't have an estimate yet of how much fluid has spilled, but "it doesn't take very much to enter the water and cause the sheen."

John Brown, an environmental program specialist with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, said that judging by the color of the sheen visible in photographs, the spilled liquid appears to be hydraulic fluid, not diesel or gasoline.

READ MORE: Overturned vessel prompts Southwest Alaska fishing closure

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