Canada may lose 4,813 Vehicles

[AKYellow]

17th District Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard

Date: July 24, 2006

Press Release

Car Carrier vessel taking on water south of Aleutian Islands

JUNEAU, Alaska - The Cougar Ace, a 654-foot car carrier owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, reported they were taking on water and listing 80 degrees at 11:09 p.m. yesterday.

The Cougar Ace left Japan on the 22nd of July with 22 people on board. One crewmember has a broken leg, but there are no other reported injuries at this time. All crewmembers are wearing survival suits at this time.
A Coast Guard C-130 aircraft out of Kodiak is on scene and has radio contact with the Cougar Ace. The C-130 has dropped a liferaft as a safety measure for the possibility of the vessel capsizing.

The cause of the damage and the source of incoming water are unknown at this time.

There are two merchant vessels standing by on scene to assist .

The Cougar Ace is carrying 430 metric tons of fuel oil and 112 metric tons of diesel. There is a sheen extending 2 miles from the vessel.
The Cougar Ace is a Singapore homeported vessel, carrying 4,813 vehicles, en-route to Vancouver B.C.

The Coast Guard cutter Rush, a 378-foot cutter based out of Hawaii, is en route to assist and is expected to arrive on scene in approximately 20 hours.

 

[99 Pro]

I heard there was 1,500 Mazda's on that ship.

 

[AKYellow]

Here are some Photos of the ship on its side..........

 

[Falango]

Yikes, that really sucks! I heard about an accident like this in the Atlantic where a whole load of german cars went down with a ship.

 

[niv]

wow.. that's neat to see for sure.... hmmm mazdaspeed 3's on board.. maybe..... cars bumping into each other..... do i smell a salvage sale(no pun intended)??? lolz.. seaaaaaaaaats.

 

[SilverBulletES]

Holy crap!
That should buff out though.

I smell Karl Rove's fingerprints all over this.

 

[Prodigy]

I heard there was 1,500 Mazda's on that ship.

your source?

 

[magnumP5]

80 degree list...? That's pretty much waaay past the point of no return unless that ship is some great exception to the rule. Can anyone say "Underwater Car Dealership"?

 

[Prodigy]

80 degree list...? That's pretty much waaay past the point of no return unless that ship is some great exception to the rule. Can anyone say "Underwater Car Dealership"?

Mazda of Atlantis is having their grand opening!

 

[Tengo]

Mazda of Atlantis is having their grand opening!

LMAO too funny

 

[AKYellow]

80 degree list...? That's pretty much waaay past the point of no return unless that ship is some great exception to the rule. Can anyone say "Underwater Car Dealership"?

UPDATE: They say its now listing at 60 degree list they have a US Coast Guard Cutter out there with it watching it 24-7.

 

[magnumP5]

UPDATE: They say its now listing at 60 degree list they have a US Coast Guard Cutter out there with it watching it 24-7.

Damn, well apparently I need to brush up on my Naval Architecture, LOL. I wonder how they're doing that...

 

[Revs]

I'd hate to be the insurance adjuster on that marine claim.

 

[mikeyb]

Damn, well apparently I need to brush up on my Naval Architecture, LOL. I wonder how they're doing that...

A US Coast Guard Cutter is the size of a US Navy Frigate or small Destroyer.

 

[AKYellow]

Here is some Video of the Rescue of the 23 crew members on board......
http://www.piersystem.com/clients/c780/60652.avi
I think this might be a bad link so bare with me.

 

[AKYellow]

A US Coast Guard Cutter is the size of a US Navy Frigate or small Destroyer.

Yeah our ships are not very big but they do respond quickly!!

 

[Titanium-99]

wow thats crazy? any one want to take a sea trip I know where we could get a car for next to nothing!

 

[Newf]

.....next in the news. The New Mazdaspeed 3 is delayed...

 

[Prodigy]

Insufficient stability blamed for turning ship sideways
By RACHEL D'ORO
Associated Press Writer
<!-- BEGIN MEDIA BOX NUMBER 1 --> <!-- END MEDIA BOX NUMBER 1 --> ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- The Cougar Ace was thrown sideways when the massive ship's ballast tank was adjusted in the open seas of the North Pacific, a representative of the vessel owner said Wednesday.
"There clearly was imbalance in the intake of ballast water. The company investigation ultimately will tell us what caused that imbalance," said Greg Beuerman, a spokesman for Tokyo-based Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, which owns the 654-foot car carrier.
Two days after the bruised and battered crew was hoisted to safety, the disabled ship remained floating on its side 230 miles south of Adak Island in Alaska's Aleutian chain. Still unknown was the fate of the nearly 5,000 cars - mostly Mazdas - secured in compartments with heavy chains inside the vessel. Watertight compartments and doors in the ship could be contributing to the ship's buoyancy, Beuerman said.
Coast Guard officials said the Honolulu-based cutter Rush will remain at the remote site until a salvage tow arrives next week to retrieve the Singapore-flagged ship. No additional oil has been detected around the ship, other than a light sheen already reported, said Petty Officer Jesami Statesir. The ship had been carrying 430 metric tons of fuel oil or 112 metric tons of diesel fuel.
<!-- BEGIN MEDIA BOX NUMBER 2 --> <table class="ap-story-table" align="right" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="300"> <!-- BEGIN MEDIABOX 9605171 --> <!-- $Id: MediaBox.java,v 1.9 2006/07/11 16:08:56 gmavrom Exp $ --> <tbody><tr class="ap-mediabox-tr"> <!-- BEGIN MEDIABOX LEFT SIDE SPACER --> <td class="ap-mediabox-td">

</td> <!-- BOX_BOTTOM MEDIABOX LEFT SIDE SPACER --> <td class="ap-mediabox-td">
</td> <!-- BEGIN MEDIABOX RIGHT SIDE SPACER --> <td class="ap-mediabox-td">

</td> <!-- BOX_BOTTOM MEDIABOX RIGHT SIDE SPACER --> </tr> <!-- BOX_BOTTOM MEDIABOX 9605171 --> </tbody></table> <!-- END MEDIA BOX NUMBER 2 --> Coast Guard and Alaska Air National Guard helicopters rescued the 23 crew members of the Cougar Ace Monday night, 24 hours after the ship tilted sharply in the space of 10 minutes. The crew was in Anchorage Wednesday, being interviewed by company officials, insurance agents and attorneys, Beuerman said.
The Cougar Ace's captain told officials the vessel began to list when the crew was changing the water level in the ballast tank, which regulates the ship's weight and balance. Beuerman said he didn't know anything about earlier reports a large wave hit the ship during the adjustment. He said the mishap appeared to be caused by insufficient stability within the vessel, not by a collision or outside flooding.
Mitsui also announced Wednesday it had hired Crowley Maritime Corp.
Oakland, Calif.-based Crowley is enlisting its salvage subsidiary Titan Maritime LLC of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to right the vessel and tow it to a U.S. or Canadian port. Crowley spokesman Mark Miller said Titan had conducted more than 200 salvage and wreck removal projects during the past 25 years.
<!-- BEGIN MEDIA BOX NUMBER 3 --> <!-- END MEDIA BOX NUMBER 3 --> Crowley tug Sea Victory left Seattle Tuesday night and was expected to reach the Cougar Ace Aug. 2, according to Beuerman.
Because the Cougar Ace ran into trouble in international waters, the Coast Guard said it is monitoring the ship, but not taking an enforcement role.
Officials with Mazda Motor Corp. said more than 4,700 of the cars on board the Cougar Ace are various Mazda models, including the popular lines, Mazda3 and CX-7. The cars were being shipped from Japan to Vancouver, British Columbia, Tacoma, Wash., and Port Hueneme, northwest of Los Angeles.
Jeremy Barnes, a company spokesman, didn't know the total value of the vehicles, saying their retail costs ranged between $13,500 and $35,000 apiece. The shipment represents just a fraction of Mazda's North American inventory. But Barnes said it's considered a "very significant" number, even though more than 258,000 Mazdas were sold in the United States alone last year.
<!-- BEGIN MEDIA BOX NUMBER 4 --> <!-- END MEDIA BOX NUMBER 4 --> "We're certainly concerned about the condition of the vehicle," he said "But the important part of this is that the crew members were safely transferred from the ship."

I found this article to be a whole lot more helpful.
http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=18&path=A/AK_LISTING_SHIP

 

[Falango]

I wouldn't doubt that there are a load of MS3s on there. Looks like it's gonna be a rare car.