The Shin Onoe cargo ship has left Unalaska ahead of schedule, and without incident. Coast Guard Lt. Jim Fothergill says the vessel passed its sea trials and a Coast Guard inspection, and left Summer Bay around 3 pm.
Fothergill says this morning’s rough weather didn’t affect the Shin Onoe at its anchorage. The 1000-foot vessel spent two days in Summer Bay getting its turbocharger fixed after losing propulsion on the Great Circle shipping route.
After a few quiet months, Cleveland Volcano is waking up.
Cleveland’s last recorded eruption was in November. Then, at the end of January, the Alaska Volcano Observatory’s satellites picked up warming temperatures on Cleveland’s surface. And they found a new lava dome growing in the summit crater. It’s 330 feet in diameter -- just shy of a football field.
Chris Waythomas is a geologist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory and the United States Geological Survey. He says Cleveland periodically grows lava domes, only to have them explode a few months later.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service came out against a controversial proposed road through the Izembek National Wildlife refuge Tuesday. Residents of King Cove are disappointed, but say they’re not giving up on the project.
Locals have been lobbying for a road to connect King Cove and and the all-weather airport at Cold Bay for decades. They say it would save lives by making medevacs safer. But environmentalist activists have consistently opposed the project, contending it would devastate critical habitat for migratory birds.
A massive cargo ship has safely anchored in Unalaska. Marine pilot Dave Arzt says the 1000-foot Shin Onoe and her crew of about 20 arrived Monday around 4 pm -- about two hours earlier than the response team had originally planned.
"So we boarded her a little early off Ulakta Head, and proceeded to come in and anchor her off Summer Bay," says Arzt. "And once she anchored up, she was able to start on her repairs."
A fire aboard the 180' F/V Alaskan Lady over the weekend sent emergency crews down to the Coastal Transportation dock, and one person to the clinic. Fire chief Abner Hoage says a leak in an oxy-acetylene welding hose likely caused the fire. It was quickly extinguished by the ship’s crew using onboard fire fighting equipment. Hoage says city fire crews helped ventilate the vessel, and provided transport for a crew member suffering from smoke inhalation.
The state moved one step closer to establishing an Arctic deepwater port last week. The US Army Corps of Engineers released a draft report Wednesday, naming Nome and Port Clarence as the best locations for a port.
"The Nome and Port Clarence area bubbled up to the top in part because there's naturally deep water there, and they've got the upland support that many of the other communities lacked," says Lorraine Cordova, the Corps' project manager.
Sea ice pushing south towards the Pribilof Islands could interfere with the snow crab fishery in coming days. National Weather Service ice forecaster Becky Legett says a low pressure system south of the Aleutians combined with a high pressure system in the Bering Strait area is creating strong northerly winds.
“And that is going to bring the ice edge down between 10 and 15 nautical miles to the southwest through Monday and early next week.”
Shell’s chief executives responded to questions about the January grounding of the Kulluk drill rig during the company’s annual results conference in London Thursday.
In a prepared presentation, Shell’s Chief Executive Officer, Peter Voser, played down the company’s many mishaps in Alaska last year.
“Despite making some progress we have run into problems in the last few months. Our rigs will need more work if they are going to be ready for the 2013 drilling season. One, the Noble Discoverer needs a series of upgrades, and the other, the Kulluk, ran aground in a heavy storm on New Year’s Eve and has been damaged.”
