Aleutian Islands Need Spill Safeguards

Listed ship near the Aleutian Islands a few months ago. Photo by the US Coast Guard.

The Salica Frigo, a 443-foot vessel with a fuel capacity of 450,000 gallons, lost power and came within three-tenths of a mile of running aground on Hog Island in Unalaska Bay. Incredibly, all that separated the Aleutian Islands ecosystem from disaster was about 15 minutes -- the time it takes to make a pot of coffee -- as the crew was able to restart the engines in the proverbial nick of time.
Even more remarkable is that the Salica Frigo is one of three alarming near collisions in the last year. The Aleutian Islands remain dangerously exposed to a shipping disaster.

The Aleutian Islands archipelago is one of the most fragile and wondrous places on Earth. It is home to extraordinary deep-sea corals, 25 marine mammal species, seabirds from all seven continents and hundreds of species of fish. Aleutian fisheries are a critical part of Alaska's economy and part of the region that provides for more than half of the catch of multibillion-dollar U.S. fisheries.

Despite this ecological and economic importance, and more than two years after the Selendang Ayu catastrophe, there is still neither a plan nor resources in place for responding to a shipping accident.

Aleutian Islands communities and Bering Sea fishermen painfully recall that the freighter Selendang Ayu ran aground and split in two on Unimak Island in December 2004. Despite the heroic efforts of the Coast Guard and others, six crew members were lost, and the fisheries important to local Alaska communities were damaged.

More than three-quarters of the ship's fuel, more than 300,000 gallons, poured into the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge -- the largest spill in U.S. waters since the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989. We will not know the full ecological or economic impacts of this spill for many years.

As long as there have been ships at sea there have been accidents at sea. Since 1780 there have been more than 190 shipwrecks in the Aleutian Islands, and more than 3,000 ships travel through the region every year. Immediate measures must be put in place to protect special places like Unimak Pass -- a major travel corridor for both cargo ships and migratory species like gray whales -- that are at extreme risk of potential impacts from shipping accidents.

Appropriate management measures include a full risk assessment and comprehensive spill prevention plan, along with adequate funding for the complete monitoring of all ship traffic and necessary training and equipment.

We commend Gov. Palin for her recent action to include a risk assessment for Aleutian shipping as one of her federal funding priorities. We are confident that Alaska's congressional delegation will share her commitment to this issue and move this funding request forward as quickly as possible. There is a variety of risk and liability funds, as well as port and harbor security protection monies, that could help accommodate the need for a response.

The Salica Frigo joins with other close calls of the past year like the Cougar Ace -- a ship carrying thousands of gallons of fuel and more than 4,500 cars that unexpectedly listed more than 80 degrees and was adrift near the Aleutians for more than a week -- to serve as stark reminders of the dangers.

The Aleutian Islands archipelago is one of America's few remaining storehouses of our nation's natural treasures, and the region's vibrant communities, awe-inspiring wildlife and valuable fisheries must be protected. After the Exxon Valdez and Selendang Ayu we lost not only thousands of sea birds and otters and millions of dollars in revenue, we also lost any excuses we had for not being ready. The Salica Frigo reminds us again of the potential for disaster if we do not act now.

While we cannot control when or where shipping accidents will occur, we can -- and must -- put an effective spill response plan in place for the Aleutians to prevent the next accident in this part of the world from becoming another human and ecological catastrophe.

Whit Sheard is the Alaska program director for Pacific Environment, an organization based in San Francisco. Jim Ayers is vice president of Oceana. He lives in Juneau.