Selendang Ayu News

There are a number of federal and state statutes that intentionally and justifiably impose strict criminal liability. Persons who manufacture hazardous explosives and those who keep dangerous animals create serious risks to public safety. Clearly placing the burden of potential criminal liability, even in the absence of criminal negligence or intent, on those persons and entities is appropriate. There are other statutes, though, that fail to disclose whether the authors intended for the criminal penalties included for noncompliance to be strictly applied or whether criminal liability requires proof of criminal negligence or specific intent. Two such statutes of interest to the maritime community are the Refuse Act of 1899 and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA).

Industry analyst and environmental consultant Dagmar Schmidt Etkin, PhD, takes a hard look at a rapidly shifting operational landscape in the Arctic. Always an honest broker of information, Etkin tells it like it is. Oil spill risk is present anywhere that oil is present in reservoirs, or is transported, consumed, stored, and handled in some way. The Arctic is no exception. Not only are there oil reserves in the Arctic, some of which are being or will soon be considered for exploration and production, there is also oil being transported as cargo or as fuel to Arctic communities.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved protective buffer zones (“Areas to be Avoided”) around Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, approximately 10 years after a shipping disaster occurred off its coasts. In December 2004, the M/V Selendang Ayu foundered off the Aleutians amidst severe weather and was blown to shore, eventually breaking into two pieces and causing more than 300,000 gallons of toxic heavy fuel oil to spill into pristine marine waters and resulted in the deaths of six crew members. Shipping in and around the Aleutian Islands is significant. In 2012, nearly 2,000 individual vessels made more than 4,600 transits through Unimak Pass at the eastern end of the island chain.

Michael G. Chalos has joined the New York office of global law firm K&L Gates LLP as a partner in the maritime practice. Previously the senior partner at the firm of Chalos O’Connor, LLP, Chalos is accompanied in his move by associates Luke Reid and George Kontakis in the firm’s Boston and New York offices, respectively. With a focus on traditional maritime and criminal environmental law, Chalos represents clients involved in high-profile civil and criminal environmental litigation. This has included the successful defense of the masters of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker and Selendang Ayu cargo ship, as well as numerous United States- and foreign-based corporations, ship owners, managers, operators, and crew who were the targets of criminal investigations by the U.S. government.

Fierce Arctic winds and towering 30-foot seas assaulted a 738-foot freighter with 20 crewmembers aboard finding themselves helplessly adrift with limited engine power in the midst of an ice-cold storm 70 miles north of Adak. Trouble loomed on the horizon as they were drifting toward land carrying more than 132,277 pounds of rape seed used to make canola oil, 450,000 gallons of fuel oil and 11,700 gallons of diesel fuel with the only help more than 400 miles away. In the midst of the Golden Seas’ voyage to the United Arab Emirates the crew experienced a turbo-charger failure Dec. 3 2010.

1904-An Executive Order extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service to the noncontiguous territory of the Midway Islands. 1941-Coast Guardsmen seized all nine Finnish vessels that were currently in U.S. ports and placed them in "protective custody" to "prevent the commission of any acts of sabotage" on orders from the Navy Department. Twenty-four hours later the Coast Guard removed the crews from each of the vessels. This action was ordered soon after the break in diplomatic relations between Great Britain and Finland. The following Finish vessels were seized: SS Olivia, at Boston, Massachusetts; SS Kurikka, SS Jourtanes, and SS Saimaa at New York…

1904-An Executive Order extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service to the noncontiguous territory of the Midway Islands. 1941-Coast Guardsmen seized all nine Finnish vessels that were currently in U.S. ports and placed them in "protective custody" to "prevent the commission of any acts of sabotage" on orders from the Navy Department. Twenty-four hours later the Coast Guard removed the crews from each of the vessels. This action was ordered soon after the break in diplomatic relations between Great Britain and Finland. The following Finish vessels were seized: SS Olivia, at Boston, Massachusetts; SS Kurikka, SS Jourtanes, and SS Saimaa at New York…

The Aleutian Islands Risk Assessment management team selected Nuka Research and Planning Group, LLC Feb. As the facilitator Nuke Research will support the team's ongoing Aleutian Islands Risk Assessment with a key role of assembling and facilitating advisory panel activities. The contract is currently being finalized. Nuka Research is a small business located in Alaska with extensive experience in facilitation and maritime issues in the Aleutian Islands. As the facilitator of the advisory panel…

The motor vessel Selendang Ayu, a 738-foot freighter has run aground and broken in two on the northern shore of Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Island Chain. In addition a Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Kodiak crashed last night while evacuating the remaining eight crew members from the Selendang Ayu. The vessel ran aground more than 40-hours after the ship's main engine broke down causing it to drift in high winds and heavy seas. The Coast Guard has rescued 20 of the Selendang Ayu's 26 crewmen. The three Coast Guard crewmen from the Jayhawk and two persons who remained aboard the stricken vessel after the helicopter crashed are safe. Six crewmen from the Selendang Ayu still remain missing.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Coast Guard is conducting a rescue effort right now near Unalaska Island for 10 people who were aboard a Coast Guard helicopter. The helicopter and crew based out of Kodiak were evacuating crewmembers off the grounded freighter Selendang Ayu when it crashed in the ocean during the rescue attempt. Another helicopter from the Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley, which is on scene, picked up four people and have taken them to Dutch Harbor for medical treatment, their condition is unknown. Six people are still unaccounted for. The Selendang Ayu has subsequently broken in two and a Coast Guard rescue swimmer along with the master of the vessel remain on board.

With deep regret, by late Friday night, IMC had formally accepted that the six seafarers who remain missing following the crash of a United States Coast Guard’s rescue helicopter must now be presumed dead. Peter Chew, Group Managing Director of IMC made a statement through the Joint Command Information Centre following the Coast Guard’s announcement that the Search and Rescue operation was halted by nightfall on Friday. IMC continues to mourn its missing men and is doing all it can for their families and loved ones. Frederick Chavalit Tsao, the IMC Chairman, arrived in Alaska on Saturday morning to see the crew of the Selendang Ayu and meet all involved in the emergency operations. On Sunday he was in Juneau to meet Admiral James C.

Crews continue lightering operations aboard the remains of the 738-foot freighter Selendang Ayu in the Bering Sea. To date, crews have removed 3,075.48 gallons of marine diesel oil (MDO) from the stricken ship. Monday, Unified Command (UC) officials in Dutch Harbor reported that crews totaled tank one with 1,323.59 gallons; tank two with 1,319.5 gallons and tank three with 432.39 gallons, amounts that are not just fuel, but also is mixed with water. Officials today report that the starboard marine diesel oil tank requires cleaning and that workers will have to increase the size of the hole to access tank number 3C, situated below the MDO tank. Weather conditions Tuesday prevented workers from conducting beach cleaning operations, but crews returned to clean beaches today.

Forget the oil ... What about the Rats? While the majority of attention is paid to oil spilled in the wake of a ship's break up and sinking, research scientists in Alaska are far more concerned with what they consider to be an even larger environmental problem: a rat spill. According to a story in the New York Times published December 28, 2004, the recent grounding of the freighter Selendang Ayu, pictured, touched off a panic in the science community, as scientists tried to gauge the incident's proximity to local islands. Scientists maintain that foreign rats, particularly those of the "hardy Norway breed", can attack and decimate delicate and rare bird nesting areas…

The holidays this past year presented unique challenges for the salvage industry in the U.S. On Friday Evening, November 26 (Thanksgiving Weekend) the fully laden 60,000 dwt tanker Athos 1 struck an object on the bottom of the Delaware River causing a sizable crude oil spill and a serious list on-board the vessel. A few days later, on December 8, the fully laden 70,000-ton bulk carrier Selendang Ayu lost power off Dutch Harbor, Alaska. It grounded and broke into two pieces spilling both cargo and bunkers into the sea. As the Athos 1 is a tanker, it had a USCG approved Vessel Response Plan (VRP) which was activated immediately. The "Qualified Individual" (required to be named in her VRP by the USCG) activated her Spill Management Team within minutes.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) issued a Situation Report stating that the winter operations plan has been put into effect and that regular situation reports will not be issued until the week of April 4. Of the estimated 477,853 gallons of oil on board the SELENDANG AYU when it grounded on Unalaska Island on December 8, 2004, approximately 140,739 gallons have been recovered and lightered ashore. The remainder (approximately 337,114 gallons) were released into the environment. As weather permits, monitoring will continue until active operations recommence in the spring. Source: HK Law

KODIAK, Alaska - Cleanup operations continue in earnest at the site of the Selendang Ayu wreck. Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Team (SCAT) personnel continue making progress and have surveyed 465 segments of the 799 beach segments identified as potentially impacted sites. Coast Guard Captain Ron Morris, Federal On-scene Coordinator said "The shoreline has been divided into segments as an aid for geographical referencing for response personnel. shoreline with some portion of 53 miles of those surveyed recommended for cleanup. The other 171 miles will not require further treatment. To date cleaning crews have collected 1,407 cubic yards of oily waste. There are currently 158 field response personnel and 21 vessels involved in the cleanup operations.

IMC Shipping Co. Pte. Ltd. (IMC), pleaded guilty in federal court in Alaska to a three-count information alleging two violations of the Refuse Act for the illegal discharge of oil and soy beans and one violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for killing of thousands of migratory birds that resulted from the grounding of the M/V Selendang Ayu on Dec. 8, 2004 in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. IMC was subsequently sentenced to pay a criminal penalty of $10m. The grounding of the M/V Selendang Ayu spilled approximately 340,000 gallons of bunker fuel, as well as several thousands of tons of soy beans, into the Bering Sea in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in the Aleutian Islands resulting in the deaths of several thousand migratory birds.

Owners of a ship that ran aground on an Aleutian Island will plead guilty to illegally discharging its cargo and have agreed to pay a hefty fine, reports said. IMC Shipping Co. Pte. Ltd. (IMC) of Singapore will also plead guilty to killing hundreds of seabirds when its 738-ft. freighter, Selendang Ayu, ran aground Dec. 8, 2004, and broke in two on the north side of Unalaska Island, said U.S. Attorney Nelson Cohen. The vessel was carrying an estimated 442,000 gallons of fuel oil and some diesel. About 336,000 gallons of intermediate fuel oil and diesel spilled, along with 66,000 tons of soybeans. During rescue operations, a Coast Guard helicopter carrying Selendang Ayu crew members from the tanker crashed.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its report on the grounding of the bulk carrier Selendang AYU on Unalaska Island on December 8, 2004. The ship broke up following the grounding, releasing approximately 1,000 metric tons of fuel and 60,200 metric tons of its cargo of soybeans into waters of the Bering Sea. The NTSB determined that the probable cause of the casualty was the failure of the ship’s main engine. Contributing factors included the inability of the crew to restart the engine and the inability of responding vessels to effect a tow. Source: HK Law