The processing vessel Excellence was tied up at a cold storage dock in Unalaska on Friday when efforts to repair a damaged ammonia line went wrong. Their store of ammonia -- more than 20,000 pounds -- started to leak. The crew were evacuated safely, although two local welders were taken off the ship and medevaced to Anchorage.
Gina Walker, the hospitality manager at the Grand Aleutian Hotel, says the Excellence’s purser contacted her Friday afternoon asking for rooms for her crew.
After two days of unsuccessful efforts to stop an ammonia leak from the factory-processor Excellence, the ship was safely towed to Wide Bay Saturday night.
The Excellence’s captain first reported the leak to local authorities on Friday afternoon. All 129 crewmembers were evacuated from the vessel, along with the crew of a neighboring boat. Two local welders who were trying to repair the ammonia line were medevaced to Anchorage. One has been released from the hospital, the other is reported to be under observation, but in stable condition.
Local authorities maintained a safety perimeter around the Kloosterboer dock throughout the weekend and periodically shut down parts of Ballyhoo Road. Firefighters sprayed water at the ship to smother the ammonia fumes. cont...
The 24-foot Cesura on the beach in Sarana Bay, Akutan/Photo Courtesy of Rimus Meleshyus
In May, an amateur sailor with no open-ocean experience embarked on a 1,200-mile trip across the Gulf of Alaska in a 24-foot sailboat. Earlier this week he was rescued from a beach on Akutan Island.
The last time Rimas Meleshyus went sailing was in 1993. That is, the last time before setting off on his journey across the Gulf. The 60 year-old Russian Cold War refugee says it was always his dream to sail around the world.
Update: 7:30 p.m. The M/V Excellence is being moved from the Kloosterboer dock to Wide Bay.
Two Magone Marine tugboats were set to move the ship at 7 p.m., says Coast Guard Lieutenant James Fothergill. The Excellence is being manned by a skeleton crew of the Excellence’s captain and two of his crew members, all outfitted with protective gear.
The City has issued a temporary road closure advisory for Ballyhoo Road.
It’s not clear how long it will take for the Excellence to arrive at Wide Bay, or how long it will stay there. Fothergill says a team of three Hazmat-certified technicians will check the ship’s ammonia levels twice a day. The Excellence can’t leave Wide Bay until it’s safe for people to enter the ship without protective equipment, Fothergill says. ...
The last time Greenpeace was in Unalaska, they didn’t exactly get a warm welcome. The environmental group has in the past positioned itself against trawling in the Bering Sea, earning the ire of the local fishing industry. But when the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza came into port this week to prepare for a campaign against Arctic drilling, industry opposition to the group wasn’t as fierce.
The Air Force has grounded a squadron of F-16 fighter jets in Japan after one of their pilots crashed in the North Pacific this Sunday. The pilot was on his way to Alaska when his jet crashed about 250 miles off the Japanese coast. He safely ejected from the plane and spent six hours in the water before being picked up by a commercial cargo ship transiting the Aleutians. He was transferred to the Coast Guard cutter Monro and then dropped off in Cold Bay on Tuesday. The Air Force is performing safety checks on the 45 F-16s stationed at its base in Misawa Japan.
Families lined the streets of downtown Unalaska yesterday for the annual Fourth of July parade. Kids and adults enjoyed the new floats and free candy -- and some enjoyed it so much they wished they could join in. KUCB's Lauren Rosenthal has this audio postcard.
The Ounalashka Corporation has brought on a new interim leader.
Rick Miller, an accounting and finance consultant, started his term as acting chief executive officer on Monday. According to OC, Miller has previously worked with the corporation on projects such as upgrading its elderly accounting software.
Miller replaces Wendy Svarny-Hawthorne, who served as CEO for nearly a decade. Svarny-Hawthorne began her career with OC in 1991, and worked her way up from a receptionist position to the company’s head as part of OC’s shareholder mentoring program.
A California man died at the Trident Seafood processing plant on Wednesday, before starting his early morning shift.
According to Alaska State Troopers, Edgardo P. Sanchez, 55, became short of breath and struggled to communicate. He then collapsed, and efforts to resuscitate him failed. Sanchez was pronounced dead by a physician’s assistant who responded to the incident.
Next of kin have been notified of Sanchez’s death, and an autopsy has been declined. Foul play is not suspected.
