Clean-up Begins for Grounded Vessel

The Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in Anchorage continues to monitor the Genei Maru No. 7, which was reported aground in Kazakof Bay on Afognak Island Sunday. KK Yamatsu Anichi Shoten, the Japanese company that owns the Genei Maru No. 7, will take responsibility for the clean-up and salvage of the vessel. The Coast Guard has contracted with Crowley Marine in Seward to lighten the vessel by removing the fuel and oils onboard. Crowley mobilized their tug and barge at 6 a.m. this morning. They are expected to arrive on scene Wednesday. The Coast Guard estimates the vessel has 20,000 gallons of diesel fuel aboard as well as an unknown amount of miscellaneous oils. The 97-ft. vessel, adrift since May, may have an unstable refrigerant system. Marine safety officers are also concerned about the possible presence of hydrogen sulfide and methane gasses from debris and rotting squid. A site assessment crew contracted by Crowley will accompany the tug and barge to determine the safety of all spaces aboard the vessel before personnel are allowed in them. Two Coast Guard representatives, a pollution specialist and a marine surveyor, are en route to Afognak Island aboard the Kodiak King, a Kodiak tugboat, today to evaluate the scene. The crew of the Genei Maru No. 7 abandoned the vessel after it caught fire in May. The vessel was outside of United States waters and did not request Coast Guard assistance. A Good Samaritan vessel picked up the crew. The Japanese company that owns the vessel believed it sank shortly after the fire. The Coast Guard Command Center in Juneau received periodic reports from mariners updating the vessel’s position. The last position reported was in the Gulf of Alaska/North Pacific Ocean on Oct. 15.