 | SELENDANG AYU Unalaska Island, 8th December 2004 On December 8, 2004, this 738-foot bulkcarrier grounded and broke in half just offshore of Spray Cape, Unalaska Island, Alaska. The vessel was carrying soyabeans and approximately 470,000 gallons of fuel oil. It was a disaster that went from bad to worse. |  |
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On December 6th 2004, the SELENDANG AYU lost power and drifted for 2 days closer to the rocky remote shores of Unalaska Island, Alaska. In 35 m.p.h. winds, 3 tugboats and a USN cutter were unable to halt the inevitable break-up of the vessel. 7 crewmen were winched off the stricken vessel onto a helicopter. Tragically, the helicopter then crashed - 6 of the winched up 7 crew were lost. | 
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The cargo of soyabeans (seen drifting away in the photo above) would not present much of an environmental threat, but the 470,000 gallons of intermediate fuel oil was another matter. The local fishing industry could be badly affected as well as local wildlife. All these remarkable photos are provided by the State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The SELENDANG AYU was a modern (1998 built) Malaysian flagged, ABS Classed, panamax bulkcarrier of 72,937 DWT entered into the Swedish Club (P&I). |
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This is a purely non-commerical website. (c) Stephen J. Harris 2004 All rights reserved. THE DESIGN AND TEXT CONTENT OF THIS PAGE IS THE PROPERTY OF STEPHEN J. HARRIS and should not be copied and re-used in any way without prior permission. However, if we have accidentally breached a copyright attaching to any of the photographs on this page, and we shall remove the photograph immediately. |