U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Response to
Grounding/Oil Spill off Unalaska
Background Information
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been responding to the grounding
of the 738-foot cargo vessel M/V Selendang Ayu, off Unalaska Island
in the Aleutian Islands. The vessel, carrying approximately 425,000
gallons of heavy bunker fuel oil and 21,000 gallons of diesel fuel,
ran aground and broke apart on Wednesday, December 8. Six of the vessel’s
crew members were lost in the rescue effort. The vessel is located
between Skan Bay and Spray Cape (53° 38’ 04”, 167°
07’ 30”) on the western shore of Unalaska. The area is
accessible only by water or air.
Many of the lands in the spill area are managed as part of the Alaska
Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The Service response efforts are
being conducted within the Unified Incident Command Structure, and
Service biologists are directing wildlife response activities within
this joint command.
Contacts - In Anchorage: Bruce Woods, (907) 786-3695 or Karen Boylan,
786-3431. At Alaska Maritime NWR in Homer: Greg Siekaniec, (907) 226-4627.
For more information please go to Alaska Issues In-Depth
