Ship was without power, on course for tragedy

Anchorage Daily News ^ | Published: December 26, 2005 | By DOUG O'HARRA and MEGAN HOLLAND

[skeptoid]

Today begins a seven-day series on the shipwreck of the Selendang Ayu, a 738-foot Malaysian-flagged bulk cargo ship loaded with soybeans and bound for China through the Bering Sea. It all happened a year ago. Some of the details are familiar, but this is the first close-up account of what happened, assembled from public records, interviews, and the voices of the men who were there.

Twenty-foot waves and 45 mph winds battered everything in their path. A Bering Sea storm. Normal December weather in the busy shipping lanes between North America and Asia. It didn't seem like a crisis. Not at first.

Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004, shortly after midnight. The Selendang Ayu, a cargo ship longer than two football fields, radioed Dutch Harbor for help. It may already have been too late.

[skeptoid]

The first in a seven-part series of articles about a shipwreck in the Aleutian Islands (Alaska, Bering Sea) from last year. Disabled 738 foot bulk carrier drifting down on a lee shore, vicious weather, heroic rescue tug efforts, Coast Guard helicopter lost, etc. etc.

The Anchorage Daily News is free for 2-3 hits; then you must log in. Registration is free and easy.

This is a genuine, real-life thriller with lots of pics and graphics. A truly epic story.

{I do not live in Anchorage)
(i am paranoid)

[patton]

With a tug still hours away, it seemed as though nothing could stop the Selendang Ayu from wrecking itself on Bogoslof, where leaking fuel or an escape of Norway rats could trigger an ecological catastrophe for wildlife.

[mother22wife21]

agreed!

[skeptoid]

The concern is that the Norway rats could wipe out the indigenous birds and animals very quickly. this is an extremely isolated environment with low biologic diversity, as is much of Alaska.

And regarding the "Norway" rat; it's actually from China and now lives everywhere except Antarctica.

Ref this

[DB]

Bump for later.

[American in Israel]

Men are going to die, and leftists moan that birds might.

Typical...

[skeptoid]

Men DID DIE. And I'm surprised that wasn't mentioned in the first few lines of the article. But it will be told in future/daily episodes.
I haven't heard anything about the rats.

[Riley]

More info and pics
http://www.dec.state.ak.us/spar/perp/response/sum_fy05/041207201/041207201_index.htm

[patton]

It did seem odd.

[cogitator]

bump

[Onelifetogive]

Men DID DIE.

Leftists applaud thast fact. But the media didn't care for a different reason...They weren't white men.

[Rebelbase]

"Twenty-foot waves and 45 mph winds battered everything in their path."

I thought that was status quo for the Bering Sea?