A Honolulu-based longline fishing boat that beached on a reef at Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands June 5 was dragged free and sunk last Friday in water more than a mile deep. The salvage ship American
A Honolulu-based longline fishing boat that beached on a reef at Pearl and
Hermes Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands June 5 was dragged free and
sunk last Friday in water more than a mile deep.
The salvage ship American
Salvor pulled the Swordsman I off the reef and towed it to an authorized
scuttling site about 3.5 miles southeast of the atoll, according to Coast
Guard spokesman Lt. Greg Fondran.
After the 77-foot fishing boat ran
aground, five Vietnamese crewmembers were rescued from the stricken vessel with
the help of National Marine Fisheries Service personnel on Southeast Island,
Fondran said.
None of the crew was injured.
About 75,000 gallons of
diesel fuel and 2,500 gallons of oily water mixture were removed from the
vessel.
The boat took on water after it ran aground. Leakage of oil or
fuel was minimal, Fondran said.
The removal of the vessel was delayed
until last Friday partly because of bad water and weather conditions, Fondran
said.
The cause of the grounding is under investigation by the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard station at Nawiliwili didn’t respond to the incident because
the operation involved salvaging, Fondran said.
Staff writer Lester
Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or
lchang@pulitzer.net
