Posted on 09/25/2006 3:52:28 AM PDT by prisoner6
9/20/06
The Coast Guard is monitoring what appears to be an abandoned coal barge approximately 200-feet in length located nearly 60 miles southeast of the Kenai Peninsula.
It was initially spotted in May, drifting 250 miles south of the Aleutian chain. There are no markings on the barge to indicate a port or country of origin. The only markings on the barge are "CTP 424," located approximately 20-feet aft on the port and starboard sides, and a Russian class society load line along the waterline. The barge is not listed in any available data bases. A boarding party from the Coast Guard Cutter Maple reported finding Russian labeling on parts of the barge when they boarded it recently. Crews from the Maple place a twice-daily position indicating radio beacon on board, as well as a 155mm buoy lantern (quick flash light) on the bow, raised to be seen from all angles.
There is no immediate danger from the drifting barge. The Coast Guard is broadcasting a notice to mariners concerning its location.
The barge is currently in the Sector Anchorage area of responsibility. They are contacting all environmental partners, seeking to identify possible trajectories and landfall, as well as developing a salvage and destruction plan if needed.
From Alaska Coast Guard Press Release
Here's the pic...
prisoner6
Time for a Sinkex!
Not good.
“It”
The USCG is "tracking" it?
It's a hazard to navigation.
Up there right now the nights are getting longer and the water's getting colder.
Fogs and limited visibility are the increasing rule.
Get this dangerous flotsam out of some unlucky vessel's way.
Sink it. Geez.
Why is it that persons in authority no longer know what to do?
PC, that's why. It will kill us all.
AV
Don't we have some Navy or Air Force guys up there that could use a little target practice? ;o) It's a barge, I assume that means that it has no fuel on board. Blowing it up and sinking it in deep enough water would do nothing but create marine habitat.
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