King Cove boat laden with cod remains aground

The fishing vessel Capt'n Andrew remained aground near King Cove as of this morning, the U.S. Coast Guard reported. A salvage company, Magone Marine, is working to recover the 58-foot vessel. Responders are trying to remove fuel from the boat, which also has up to 120,000 pounds of Pacific cod in its holds, owner Corey Wilson of King Cove told authorities. No word yet on why the boat ran aground about 6 a.m. Sunday. USCG photo

Capsized boat sinks during salvage effort

Sounds like things have gone from bad to worse for the Carley Renee.

Here's a joint press release issued late last night from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation:

Nov. 1, 2009

Juneau fishing vessel sinks during coordinated recovery operation

ANCHORAGE — The Coast Guard, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and Magone Marine Services were coordinating a recovery operation of the fishing vessel Carley Renee when it sank in Sedanka Pass at 3:10 p.m. Sunday.

The Western Viking, a Magone salvage vessel, arrived at the location of the Carley Renee on Sunday.

The Juneau-based fishing vessel was partially submerged near Egg Island with approximately 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel on board.

Magone salvage crews successfully increased the Carley Renee's buoyancy by pumping air into the engine room. The Western Viking began towing the fishing vessel toward Beaver Inlet, a more suitable location for salvage operations and fuel removal, when the vessel sank approximately one and a half miles northwest of Egg Island.

A 2-mile rainbow sheen was reported in the vicinity of the sunken vessel. Based on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration drift models and the weather conditions the sheen is expected dissipate quickly and cause no significant environmental impacts.

The cause of the incident is under investigation by Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Unalaska.

Salvage plans emerge for grounded tender

Here's the salmon tender Unimak, which went aground Thursday near Chignik. Three crewmen got off safely in a life raft and were taken to shore on the good Samaritan boat Sylvia Star. Magone Marine out of Dutch Harbor has been hired for the salvage job, the U.S. Coast Guard reported today. The 83-foot, wood-hulled tender had about 800 gallons of diesel on board. USCG photo

A 'Super 8' boat meets its demise

The Icy Mist aground in February. USCG photo

The Icy Mist was a so-called Super 8 boat, one in a rising breed of brawny, high-capacity cod catchers nearly half as wide as their 58-foot length. They look indestructible, like a knot of steel.

But not even a Super 8 boat can survive what the Icy Mist went through.

The vessel wrecked at 4 a.m. Feb. 25 on a remote, boulder-strewn beach on Akutan Island. In hurricane-force winds, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew was able to hoist all four crewmen to safety.

A July 30 report from pollution regulators with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation says the Icy Mist "grounded due to operator error in rough seas."

Any thought of salvaging the boat to fish another day have now faded away, the report says.

It's been disemboweled on the rugged beach.

"As the seas continually worked the vessel against the rocks, the hull incurred structural damage and the fish holds became open to the seas, releasing the 135,000 pounds of Pacific cod onboard the vessel to the surrounding waters," the DEC report says.

The report continues: "The bottom of the engine room is now gone, as is the engine and marine gear. In their place are two rocks, the larger being approximately 8 feet by 6 feet, the other substantially smaller."

The DEC says state officials and the boat's owner, Robert Gunderson of Kodiak, are working with Magone Marine Services on a plan to remove the wreck for scuttling at sea.

The demise of the Icy Mist is too bad because it was only in late 2007 that she went into the Hansen Boat Co. yard in Everett, Wash., for sponsoning to her stout dimensions of 58 feet long, 28 feet 6 inches wide (previously the boat's beam was 22 feet). A bulbous bow also was added, according to this National Fisherman article.

The boat was capable of fishing with pots or trawl gear.

But now she's done.