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Tag: Pacific Ocean

Miss Jessie

Miss Jessie

Miss Jessie
Photo: USCG

On the early morning of July 25, the 37 foot long fishing vessel Miss Jessie ran aground just south of Humboldt Bay near Eureka, California. The Miss Jessie contacted the United States Coast Guard that the fishing vessel had become disabled and had washed ashore. The Coast Guard dispatched the 47 foot motor lifeboat from Humboldt Bay along with a MH-Dolphin helicopter to assist. The helicopter arrived on scene and hoisted all 5 crew off the Miss Jessie to safety.  There were no injuries reported.

The Coast Guard reported that the Miss Jessie had some 800 gallons of diesel fuel still on board, but there were no signs of pollution released. Authorities are monitoring the vessel while efforts are made to refloat the fishing vessel.  Reports state the Miss Jessie was eventually pulled back into open water a few days later.

This isn’t the first Miss Jessie to require assistance in this area.  In April 2018, the 45 foot long fishing vessel Miss Jessie had suffered steering failure just south of Humboldt Bay off  Table Bluff, California. The Coast Guard responded and the 47 foot motor lifeboat towed the fishing vessel back to harbor.

Morning Midas Sank

Morning Midas Sank

Morning Midas
Photo: USCG

SINKING

On June 23, the the 183 meter long, 12250 dwt car carrier Morning Midas (IMO: 9289910)  sank in the Pacific Ocean some 450 miles southwest of Alaska’s Aleutian Island of Adak after being on fire for nearly 3 weeks.  The salvage company Zodiac Maritime stated the vessel had suffered water ingress from the fire damage causing the vessel to finally sink. The car carrier sank to a depth of 16,404 feet.

POLLUTION

There was no reports of visible pollution at the site of the sinking. The United States Coast Guard reported they have vessels on scene ready to respond to any pollution released. Currently, the salvage vessels 47 meter long Garth Foss (IMO: 9070266) and 69 meter long Salvage Worker (IMO: 9250024) were onsite and equipped with pollution response equipment. Additionally, the 57 meter long offshore supply vessel Endeavour (IMO: 8623468) had departed from Dutch Harbor with oil pollution containment equipment and will be on site of the wreck by June 26.

Morning Midas
Photo: USCG

The Coast Guard nor the Zodiac Maritime have no reported if any oil pollution had been released between June 9 through June 23. The Morning Midas may still have 1,530 metric tons of fuel oil along with 350 metric tons of gas oil (MGO) within its fuel tanks. Even if the fire onboard burned some of the fuel, there will be a significant amount of fuel that maybe released. This may not result in any oil pollution reaching the surface due to the depth of the wreck. In research after the Deepwater Horizon disaster (Fisher, C.R., P.A. Montagna, and T.T. Sutton. 2016. Oceanography 29(3):182–195), oil pollution can remain on the ocean bottom rather than appear on the surface as an oil slick.

INVESTIGATION

There has been no press release if the incident will be investigated any further.  Some news accounts stated the Morning Midas was already unsalvageable before the Zodiac Maritime vessels arrived on site. Due to its location and great depth (the Morning Midas is nearly 3/4 of mile deeper than the wreck of the Titanic), the investigation may not include any underwater surveys using ROVs. It is also doubtful any voyage data recording devices survived the fire prior to the sinking.  Additionally, the car carrier sank in international waters and may not require any US Coast Guard or other United States authorities to investigate.

 

Morning Midas

Morning Midas

Morning Midas
Photo: USCG

Around midnight on June 3, the 183 meter long, 12250 dwt car carrier Morning Midas (IMO: 9289910) caught fire in the North Pacific Ocean some 300 miles south of Adak, Alaska. The Morning Midas departed from Yantai, China with over 3100 vehicles with 65 electric and over 600 hybrid vehicles bound for Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico. While en route the crew detected smoke from one of the vehicle decks. The crew attempted to contain the blaze by using the vessel’s onboard fire suppression system.  Unfortunately, the system was unable to stop the blaze which continued to spread to other decks on the vessel.

By the afternoon of June 3, the fire was out of control and the crew alerted the United States Coast Guard. The Coast Guard sent out a broadcast alerting vessels in the area to assist while multiple Coast Guard aircraft were deployed from bases in Adak and Kodiak. The 22 crew on board the Morning Midas safely evacuated into the vessel’s life raft and were rescued by the 355.5 meter long containership Cosco Hellas (IMO: 9308510) which had responded to the distress call.  There were no injuries reported.

Morning Midas
Photo: USCG

The Coast Guard has stated they are monitoring the car carrier as smoke could still be seen billowing out from its decks. The vessels owners have arranged for a tug with firefighting equipment be sent in the hope the fire can be extinguished and the Morning Midas can be taken under tow. News reports state the fire may have started by possibly one of the lithium-ion batteries used by electric cars. If a lithium-ion battery fire is not detected early, there is a high risk of a runaway thermal reaction.

The Coast Guard is also monitoring the situation for possible oil pollution if the Morning Midas sinks before the fire is extinguished. Reports state there is 350 tons of diesel and 1530 tons of fuel oil on board the car carrier.