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.

Ports director Peggy McLaughlin has issued a temporary road closure advisory for Ballyhoo Road through Sunday. McLaughlin says the city might need to close the road from just north of the airport to the spit, and vessel traffic in the harbor could also be restricted. 

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.

Ammonia levels inside the ship were dangerously high earlier in the day. Fothergill says emergency responders installed additional ventilation in the Excellence this afternoon, and the rate of ammonia release into the air outside the ship started to slow. At around 6 p.m., the Coast Guard decided it was safe to move the vessel.

No emergency responders have required medical attention today. Four firefighters at the scene were treated at the clinic and released yesterday.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.

Update: 12:15 p.m. Emergency crews were able to board the M/V Excellence this morning and start measuring the ammonia inside the ship. Coast Guard Petty Officer Christopher Ahern says the levels are so high that it’s hard to tell if the leak has stopped, or if the ammonia is just slow to disperse. 

The Excellence will stay at the Kloosterboer dock throughout the day, at least. Responders had considered moving the ship out of the dock using tugboats, but they set that plan aside when they saw the latest measurements. Ahern says it’s too risky for tug operators and ship crew to move the Excellence while there is still so much ammonia inside the hold.

The Coast Guard still isn’t sure how much ammonia has leaked, but the Excellence can hold up to 21,500 pounds.

No responders have required medical attention since yesterday evening. Ahern confirms that the two people medevaced yesterday afternoon were local welders, not Excellence crew. Those welders had been called on board to repair the ammonia line.  

Update: 9:00 a.m. The M/V Excellence is still releasing ammonia, but the Coast Guard thinks the leak has stopped. Petty Officer Dave Irvin explains that all the liquid ammonia from the pipe has probably spilled into the vessel and is now evaporating. However, it’s still too dangerous for anyone to go aboard and verify.

Firefighters continued to spray water at the Excellence overnight and Irvin says the early-morning fog is also helping contain the gas. He couldn’t give an updated estimate of how much ammonia has spilled. The vessel can hold up to 21,500 pounds.

Irvin says responders are discussing options for removing the vessel, but wouldn’t provide any specifics. There’s still a 500-ft exclusion area around the Excellence, but Ballyhoo Road is completely reopened.

The crewmembers evacuated from the Excellence and a neighboring ship were housed at Alyeska last night. The Coast Guard doesn't have any updated information about the two people who were medevaced yesterday afternoon.

Update: 9:55 p.m. After nine hours of working to contain the spill, ammonia is still leaking from the M/V Excellence at the Kloosterboer dock. 

The ammonia fumes grew too strong for the four contract repairmen trying to fix the leak from inside the ship. They had to leave the vessel a few hours ago, says Coast Guard Petty Officer Dave Irvin. Four firefighters and one crew member at the scene started to feel ill and required medical attention. Irvin says they were sent to the clinic and released this evening.

Coast Guard personnel have met with the fire department and the harbor officer tonight to talk about containment options, Irvin says.

Firefighters are still at the dock, spraying water on the vessel to keep the ammonia from spreading beyond the port. Parts of Ballyhoo Road have reopened since this afternoon, but the 500-foot exclusion zone around the ship will stay in place through the night. 

The Excellence can hold 21,500 pounds of ammonia. Earlier this evening, Irvin said the ship had leaked about 3,000-5,000 pounds of ammonia.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

5:28 p.m. A factory trawler is leaking ammonia at the Kloosterboer dock.

The 367-foot Excellence was evacuated early this afternoon, and two members of the 132-person crew were taken to the clinic. The crew from a neighboring ship at the dock was also evacuated.

The Coast Guard estimates that 3,000-5,000 pounds of the toxic chemical have spilled so far. A 500-ft exclusion zone around the vessel in now in place, and a half-mile of Ballyhoo Road has been blocked off. Coast Guard Petty Officer Dave Irvin says fire trucks have been spraying the vessel to keep the ammonia from blowing around.

“The water is pushing down the fumes from the ammonia and that is pretty much keeping it contained to the vessel. It’s a low-lying fume, so it’s not going to get up into the air column or anything like that. It will dissipate on its own.”

Four UniSea contract workers are aboard the ship, trying to secure the ruptured ammonia line and stop the leak.

“They’ve been able to get in but they haven’t been able to contain it,” Irvin says. “They’ll get in there and secure the line that’s been ruptured and then that will prevent anything further from going in, and then they will use water and normal evacuation to clear the area of any hazardous chemicals.”

A spokesperson for the vessel’s parent company, Premier Pacific Seafoods, says they’re not sure how the leak started. Joe Bersch says the Excellence was tied up at Kloosterboer’s dock, offloading catch when crew noticed the problem. But Coast Guard Petty Officer Irvin says the Excellence was not supposed to be at port, and its turnaround was unexpected.

Officers from the Department of Public Safety told the Excellence crew that they can’t return to the ship for at least another four hours.