F/V TAE WOONG; Uliaga Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Uliaga Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska | 1987-May-06

Initial Notification: The fishing vessel TAE WONG grounded this morning about 0635 on Oliaga Island, one of the "Islands of 4 mountains", position 53-06N, 169-44W...these islands are part of the Aleutian Island National Wildlife Refuge...there are 105,000 gallons (approx) of diesel fuel onboard, 1 tank has ruptured...fuel leaking at 1321 gallons/hour... master reports lives are in danger...CUTTER RUSH is enroute and should be on scene as I type...the vessel is South Korean, 210 ft long, 1500 gross tons, and 49 people onboard...the OSC is conferring with USFWS... . Captain Haines, former OSC for that area and Co-Chairman of the ARRT, reports that the vicinity of the grounding is extremely inaccessible and any response action will be severely limited, if any at all... Captain Roussel, as OSC, is evaluating the situation. . On scene weather: cloudy, ceiling 1,000ft, swells 4 ft, winds 10-15 kts from the northwest, visibility 2-3 miles. USCG district 17.