"Our main goal is to ensure we don't have some type of catastrophic release," said a state official. Photo / AP
"Our main goal is to ensure we don't have some type of catastrophic release," said a state official. Photo / AP
A ship that sank off Kodiak Island four decades ago has started to leak diesel fuel, and a state official suspects ground shaking from last month's massive magnitude 8.2 earthquake might be the reason.
The vessel sank in 1989 in Womens Bay, "and it's been resting there since", Jade Gamble,the state's on-scene spill coordinator, told CoastAlaska.
The first reports of an oil sheen came in a week after the July 28 earthquake, the largest in the US in the past half-century. It's not clear how much diesel fuel or other contaminants remain on the Saint Patrick.
The 42-meter former scallop boat was hit by a rogue wave in November 1981 near Marmot Island. The crew of 12 abandoned ship and only two survived. The vessel eventually was towed to Womens Bay, where it later sank.
"They've been able to minimise the leak," Gamble said. "Our main goal is to ensure we don't have some type of catastrophic release."
An official at the Alaska Earthquake Center said it's not clear if the quake is responsible for the ship's leak, however. The epicenter was about 420km southwest of Womens Bay.
Despite its size, the quake didn't cause serious damage or produce a major tsunami.
"Kodiak didn't experience anything significant," seismologist Natalia Ruppert said. "And this shipwreck being even farther away from the earthquake source, I guess it's possible."
