FV Mar-Gun; St. George Isl, Pribilof Isls, Bering Sea, Alaska

Source report excerpt: “Evening Report for Saturday, March 7, 2009 1. High wind weather kept the RP and contractors from safely removing any fuel from the vessel today. Even though the vessel is only 300 feet from the shoreline, the plan is string out 1000’ of hose along with two pumps – one at the vessel and one onshore – in order the move the product to the onshore tankage location. Calmer conditions forecast for tomorrow (20 – 25 kt S. winds) may allow for a considerable amount of transfer. 2. A full ICS structure was established today with each of the section chiefs being filed by a RP representative. 3. Coast Guard strongly urged and the RP complied with the establishment of an on-scene safety officier. 4. […]”

Source report excerpt: “Marine Environmental Protection Pollution - Oil - MEP Pollution - Oil/ 56 36.0 N 169 36.0 W NORTH OF ST. GEORGE ISLAND/050411ZMAR09 SMC/IC: Sector Anchorage Case ID: 443837 Situation: Update 08MAR09: A Unified Command meeting was held at 1200 AST on 08 March. Safety and fatigue concerns were highlighted as potential issues for all responders. NSF has pre-staged lightering equipment in order to begin removing persistent oils from the vessel in concert with the contracted OSRO, Magone Marine. Lightering operations have not commenced thus far but will be taking place at the fist available tide window. Unpredictable weather and drastic tidal patterns continue to be the primary hindrance to […]”

Source report excerpt: “The F/V Mar Gun remains hard aground and efforts continued today to remove fuel from the vessel. Progress has been slower than hoped due to equipment and weather challenges. Today the NOAA SSC led a survey of shorelines on the north side of St. George Island, including adjacent pinniped rookeries (unoccupied until May). No evidence of shoreline oiling was observed. The SSC also met with a tribal biologist who has been monitoring birds and pinnipeds in the vicinity of the grounding regarding any indications of potential wildlife impacts from sheen observed late last week. No impacts on wildlife have been observed. SSC plans for tomorrow include meeting with local tribal representatives to […]”

Source report excerpt: “The F/V Mar Gun remains hard aground. Today the U.S. Pacific Strike Team and Magone Marine Services transferred diesel among tanks to facilitate pumping the remaining diesel off the vessel. Pumping operations will resume tomorrow. The SCAT team is now on stand-by. Shoreline surveys will not be conducted unless a change in conditions indicates a new risk of oil release. The SSC has been asked to remain on-scene until the fuel removal operations have been completed. National Marine Fisheries Service remains concerned about risk of release of remaining persistent oils onto the nearby fur seal rookery shoreline and about removal of the vessel. Today the SSC met with tribal representatives to […]”

Source report excerpt: “The F/V Mar Gun remains hard aground off the north shore of St. George Island. Today the U.S. Pacific Strike Team and Magone Marine Services completed pumping diesel off the vessel except for a small amount that will be used to help cut the heavier fuels remaining to be removed. Approximately 800 gallons of service diesel will also be left aboard to run the vessel's generator. Approximately 1400 gallons of lube and hydraulic oils were consolidated in preparation for pumping tomorrow. Magone Marine Services patched some of the holes and continued preparations to salvage the vessel. Weather permitting, Magone Marine will deploy a 4-ton off-shore anchor and associated ground tackle from the […]”

Source report excerpt: “The F/V Mar Gun remains hard aground. Pumping among tanks to consolidate oils continued until 2100. Stripping is 98.6%complete and will be completed with one more hour of pumping. Pumping of theconsolidated oil to shore will commence first thing in the morning. Weather conditions have worsene, prohibiting Magone Marine from deploying a 4-ton off-shore anchor and associated ground tackle from the stern of the Mar Gun. The SCAT team remains on standby. The NOAA SSC participated in planning and tactics meetings, checked shoreline conditions near the grounding site, and worked on documentation and mapping ofprior shoreline survey information. The NOAA National Weather Service continuesto […]”

Source report excerpt: “No field operations were conducted today due to weather conditions (see National Weather Service forecast update). The sea state, with strong winds from the north, and ice on the lines made shuttling people to the vessel too treacherous. Also, mush of the vessel was coated with ice. The National Weather Service estimated the wind chill at St. George to be about 6 degrees. Pumping the remaining lube and hydraulic oils off the vessel will likely be made more difficult by the colder temperatures now on-scene, which are currently forecast to continue through Friday. Operations are suspended pending safer weather conditions. The SCAT team remains on stand-by, in the event of a release of oil […]”

Source report excerpt: “Minimal operations were conducted today due to severe weather conditions. Pumping of the remaining estimated 1500 gallons of combined lube, hydraulic, and diesel fuels will not resume until weather and temperature conditions improve. Improvement of weather conditions is not expected for several days. The SCAT Team remains on stand-by. Today the SSC participated in a Subsistence Seafood Advisory Group conference call, planning and tactics meetings. Also, subsistence sampling locations were selected and mapped. The National Weather Service continues to provide daily spot forecasts. Plans for demobilization tomorrow of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation representative, 4 of 6 […]”

Source report excerpt: “17MAR09 Update: No Fuel oil pumped off during operations on 17MAR09 due to heavy weather. Intentions are to continue pumping when conditions permit. Raised the FPN ceiling to $150,000.00. Four of the six CG Strike Team members departed from the island, as did the lone state representative and Ruth Yender, the acting NOAA SSC. John Whitney will be re-assuming that job, but conducting it from Anchorage unless the unlikely event of a large release. Prior to leaving the island, Ruth SCAT trained a couple of local folks, one a leader of the St. George Sentinel youth environmental monitoring group who were already conducting shoreline monitoring prior to and alongside Ruth; and an other a native […]”

Source report excerpt: “RESPONSE ACTION: Weather continues to be a factor in this response. A team was able to access the vessel at low tide on Tuesday and final consolidation of fluids on the vessel was completed. An estimated 2,600 gallons of mixed product is stored in the #3 starboard wing tank. An additional 3 gallons of antifreeze was delivered to the vessel on Wednesday and added to the generator. The generator was again started and continues to run well. No additional fluids have been pumped to shore. 4 bags of oiled sorbents were removed from the vessel and placed in storage for eventual burning. An estimated 22 bags of waste are awaiting reactivation of the burner for this disposal. An estimated 3 days of […]”

Source report excerpt: “Evening Report – Friday, March 20, 2009: Unified Command meeting was held early this morning between Anchorage Command Post and operations and environmental folks on St. George Island. Preparations were made for using the Bell 206 helicopter for lightering operations to begin today. Additional safety plans have been implemented to account for helicopter operations. The entire #3 starboard tank was drained with a total of 1,700 gallons offloaded today. Personnel plan to leave 800 gallons of diesel fuel and 100 gallons of lube oil onboard for when salvage becomes possible. The hose from the vessel to the shore was collected and demobilized on the shore. There have been no reports of impacted […]”

Source report excerpt: “Situation report - March 23, 2009: MAR-GUN remains hard aground approximately 200 yards off the north coast of St. George Island on Staraya Beach. Approx 18,895 gallons of mixed oils have been removed from the vessel. Approximately 750 gallons of diesel and 100 hydraulic oil remain on board and will be utilized for vessel recovery operations. By the end of the day on Friday, March 20, lightering operations were complete. On March 20, a 500 by 1000 yd sheen was reported. Karin Holser and 2 others performed SCAT observations on both March 21 and 22 and came back with an all clear. On Saturday and Sunday (March 21 & 22) weather and sea conditions were bad which eliminated any possibility of […]”

Source report excerpt: “Work continues by Magone Marine to prepare the vessel for eventual extraction from its grounding location. The work involves fabricating components and welding in reinforcing on the vessel. The RP IMT continues to meet here in Anchorage and to communicate with the on-scene personnel to expedite this preparation. However,since the dramatic re-awakening and eruptions of Redoubt volcano and subsequent threats to the Drift River tank farm, no UC meetings for the Mar-Gun response have been conducted. Meanwhile, the ice pack has blown down onto the vessel as shown in the next Hotline entry. John Whitney, Anchorage”

Source report excerpt: “On the morning of Thursday March 26, 2009, thick but unconsolidated ice floes reached and surrounded the vessel making conditions too hazardous to attempt boarding. On Friday, a sea-kayak was employed to transfer the crew to the vessel through the partially consolidated ice. The crew cleaned and dewatered the engine room and efforts continued to patch holes there. Additional work included clearing the main deck of accumulated ice, and removing deck boards, support brackets and steel bracing to expose the deck supports. This exposed area will serve as the foundation for the ground tackle to attach the main beach wires during vessel recovery. The incinerator was able to operate on Friday, […]”

Source report excerpt: “Salvors conducted vessel, helicopter and fabrications operations during the past weekend. On board the vessel, crews cleaned and dewatered the engine room and the #1 fish hold; continued shoring up leaks and installing patches; began structural welding and installation of under-deck reinforcements and chipped away ice on deck to make room for fabricated parts and other equipment required for vessel recovery. Three fishing nets are being consolidated on the vessel for removal to make more room for recovery operations. During helicopter operations the salvors transferred fabricated parts to the vessel and returned two empty drums to the vessel for collection of oily pads from daily engine […]”

Source report excerpt: “RESPONSE ACTIONS: Salvors conducted vessel, helicopter and fabrication operations during the past few days although weather prevents work on the vessel today. On board the vessel, crews knocked off accumulated ice; prepped and completed laying a fairlead foundation to support recovery operations on the aft deck port and starboard; opened and visually inspected port wing tanks, some of which still contained some diesel and other fluids that were not accessible through the vents. These fluids were stripped from tanks 2 and 4, which are now empty. Fluids were transferred into four drums and removed by helicopter. Tank 3 is punctured and there is a film of diesel floating on the water which is […]”

Source report excerpt: “RESPONSE ACTION: Salvors conducted vessel, helicopter and fabrication operations during the past few days although poor weather prevented work on the vessel most of last week. On board the vessel, crews continue to knock off accumulated ice as it forms on the vessel. Workers prepped and completed laying a fairlead cross-member foundation to support recovery operations on the aft deck port and starboard sides. Workers were also able to enter the shaft alley through the forward cover plate. The packing gland was tightened down, and Splash Zone (marine epoxy putty) was applied over miscellaneous fittings and holes in the bulkhead between the engine room and the shaft alley. The packing gland […]”

Source report excerpt: “RESPONSE ACTION: Poor weather conditions prevented some work on the vessel last week. Strong winds from the north brought the sea ice back around the vessel and hindered some operations. On board the F/V Mar-Gun, crews continued to knock off accumulated ice as it formed on the vessel. Welding and prep-work continued in the development of stern fixtures and wire fairleads for the multi bock system, which will be used to pull the Mar-Gun from the shore. During helicopter operations the salvors continued to transfer additional steel and fabricated parts to the vessel. The helicopter assisted with transporting the multi-part block system to the F/V Mar-Gun. The helicopter will also be used to […]”

Source report excerpt: “RESPONSE ACTION: On April 27, 2009 the Unified Command and trustee agencies met and approved the F/V Mar-Gun Proposed Place of Refuge Plan, which identifies several safe harbors available to the vessel once it is refloated. Upon the successful removal of the Mar-Gun from the shore, the hull will be inspected immediately for additional damage and leaks; equipment and personnel will be in place to complete any temporary hull repairs. Upon completion of any repairs and Coast Guard approval, the M/V Redeemer will tow the Mar-Gun to Dutch Harbor, the preferred place of refuge, where the vessel will be moored and boomed at the Magone Marine dock. For additional information, a copy of the proposed […]”

Source report excerpt: “RESPONSE ACTION: During the early morning outgoing tide on May 1, 2009 the starboard hull in the engine space developed a hole, which resulted in partial flooding of the engine room. Both engine room generators were turned off, but did receive some flooding damage. Salvors continue to dewater the engine space and work on the generator system while a box patch is completed. Salvors were also able to reestablish the highline from the shoreline to the port side of the Mar-Gun to help stabilize the vessel, and to help with the transfer of equipment personnel to and from the Mar-Gun. RESOURCES AFFECTED: There have been no reports of impacted wildlife at this time. FUTURE PLANS AND […]”

Source report excerpt: “RESPONSE ACTION: The Unified Command and trustee agencies held meetings on May 5-6, 2009 to review and approve the salvors’ request to remove a rock pinnacle using explosives from the proposed vessel removal pathway. On May 7, 2009 at 1:00 PM, salvors successfully removed the pinnacle using explosives. During the blasting, observers were stationed at two separate locations on bluffs overlooking the grounding site to insure that there were no marine mammals or birds in the area. The wildlife impact monitoring continued through the afternoon and the next day. No impacts to wildlife were observed. During the early morning high tides on May 10-11, 2009, salvors were able to use the M/V Redeemer […]”

Source report excerpt: “Shortly after 1 am LT, May 13, the F/V Mar Gun was towed / dragged off of St. George shoreline by the Tug Redeemer. The vessel will anchor in the nearest harbor (Zapadni on the south side of St. George Island) and monitor for watertight integrity overnight. A dive survey will be completed to assess the F/V Mar-Gun’s integrity. The shaft will be secured for transit and nets reloaded onboard. Approximately 300 gallons of diesel will be on board during the transit to run generators and pumps. If all goes well, she will be underway for ultimate destination Dutch Harbor following equipment checks at some point tomorrow. Pumps are being used to control water coming in through cracks in the shaft […]”