Coast Guard removing oil from possible WWII sunken ship
PORT ARTHUR, Texas (AP) - Crews on Friday stopped a slow fuel-oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico that had led them to a sunken ship, possibly a World War II-era cargo vessel, the Coast Guard said.
Crews were working to siphon off an estimated 16,000 gallons of recoverable fuel oil believed to be on board and clean up the spill, which Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Kimberly Kaiser described as nothing more than a sheen on the surface of the Gulf.
The shipwreck was found about 6 miles off Texas Point, near Sabine Pass, as the Coast Guard and other members of the response team traced the source of the leak over the past couple of weeks. Kaiser said she didn't know exactly when the shipwreck was discovered.
The vessel is consistent with the size and shape of a 417-foot long, 56-foot wide Liberty ship, according to a Coast Guard statement.
Resolve Marine, hired to do a preliminary survey of the sheen, determined the wreck is mostly buried at a depth of 36 feet, with about 5 feet of hull protruding from the Gulf floor.
Crews worked to tap into the tanks and pump the oil aboard a response vessel for disposal, according to the Coast Guard, which was coordinating the effort along with the Texas General Land Office.
"Once the responsible party is identified, they are billed," Land Office spokesman Jim Suydam said. "But you've got to be able to identify a responsible party first."
A message left with the U.S. Maritime Administration was not immediately returned. The Maritime Administration Web site says U.S. shipyards built 2,751 Liberty ships during World War II to haul troops and military cargo around the world.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
PORT ARTHUR, Texas - From U.S. Coast Guard - Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Port Arthur is continuing to coordinate response operations to recover oil from a submerged ship wreck 6 miles off Texas Point in the Gulf of Mexico, Friday.
The Coast Guard federal on scene coordinator authorized the opening of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund in order to determine and secure the source of an oil sheen. Resolve Marine was contracted, and conducted a preliminary survey that identified a sunken vessel buried in 36 feet of water with only 5 feet of the hull protruding from the bottom of the gulf. After detailed measurements, engineering calculations and samples were taken from the site, it has been determined that the vessel is consistent in size and shape with that of a 417-foot long, 56-foot wide World War II Liberty Ship.
Once the vessel was determined to be the most probable source of discharge, a Unified Command was created and approved plans for surveying, marking, sampling, and quantifying the vessel's tanks. These efforts resulted in securing the sources of the original oil sheen and the discovery of oil within the vessel's fuel tanks. At this point, it is estimated that approximately 16,000 gallons of recoverable fuel oil still remain onboard the ship.
Currently, operations are ongoing to tap into the tanks containing oil and pump the oil into a tank onboard a response vessel for further disposal.
The Unified Command consists of MSU Port Arthur and the Texas General Land Office. They have been working with the following agencies to remove the oil from the submerged ship wreck:
Texas Parks and Wildlife Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Pollution Fund Center
Resolve Marine and Garner Environmental
Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team
