M/V SWALLOW; Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands, Alaska | 1989-Feb-27

Initial Notification: On the morning of February 27, 1989, the SWALLOW, a 287-foot Japanese refrigerant fish cargo vessel, grounded just south of Ulakta Head, roughly ten miles north of Unalaska. The vessel was carrying approximately 65,000 gallons of Bunker C; 30,000 gallons of diesel; l 3,000 gallons of lube oil; and over 200 tons of frozen crab. Within a few days most of the diesel and some of the Bunker C had been lost. Because the vessel lost generating capability shortly after it grounded, the Bunker C fuel thickened, so that little fuel was actually lost. Booms were of little use in the surf zone where the vessel was grounded. USCG district 17.