Lessons learned from 2004 oil spill off Unalaska Island
Eight years ago this month, the Selendang Ayu, a freighter from Malaysia broke in half while travelling the Alaskan Archipelago.
Three-hundred and fifty thousand gallons of oil leaked from the ship causing extensive environmental damage.
Now, several environmental and shipping groups are calling for measures to be taken so such a disaster never occurs again, reports the LA Times this week.
The coaltion is suggesting having emergency tugboats along the Alaskan Archipelago in order to react quickly should such and incident ever happen again.
In a blog post on December 8, 2012 on the Ocean Foundation website, Richard Steiner, a professor and conservation biologist describes Arctic shipping as “a disaster waiting to happen.”
Between 10 and 20 freighters travel near the 1,200-mile Alaskan Aleutian chain to go between Asia and North America, he writes.
To read more in Steiner’s blog “Arctic Shipping is a Disaster Waiting to Happen,” click here
To read more in the LA Times, click here
Write to Eilís Quinn at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca