Shipwreck may be source of oily marine sheens

Published on March 4th, 2010

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

An increase in marine oil sheens near Juneau has the Coast Guard investigating a possible historic source - the Princess Kathleen, a passenger liner that wrecked off Lena Point in 1952.

"We traced them back to what we thought was the Princess Kathleen, and we thought it would be prudent to dive on the vessel to see if there was anything going on down there, and if there was, either what we can do to mitigate it or how we are going to proceed," Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Andrea Manuel said.

The Coast Guard is assessing whether fuel on the 369-foot vessel should be removed and how much of it remains. The vessel's fuel tanks could hold 155,000 gallons. It has periodically released small, unrecoverable oil sheens for years.

"We're not even sure how much fuel was onboard when the vessel sank," said Sarah Moore, a DEC environmental program specialist.

The Princess Kathleen was a Canadian Pacific Railroad vessel built in 1925. It went aground and sank northwest of Juneau in 1952 with no loss of life. The massive passenger liner rests on a slope in 80 to 140 feet of water.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the Coast Guard worked with Southeast Alaska Lighterage and Global Offshore Divers to evaluate the vessel.

"They have been conducting dives on it basically seeing the structural integrity of the vessel, seeing how it's sitting," Manuel said. "Once we get the results of those, and working with our pollution responders and experts in that area, we're going to work with the state to proceed forward with how we should appropriately respond to it."

Removing fuel will depend on what's found, Manuel said. The wreck is a popular diving destination.

"It is a historical wreck, and we are going to work closely with the state and local agencies here to make sure we balance our concern for the environment along with its historical significance," Manuel said.

The assessment also will review risk, said Scot Tiernan of the DEC, adding that "since it is at an angle, that makes it a little more problematic."

Moore said there have been numerous reports of "rainbow" sheens on the water that average 20 to 50 feet in diameter. It's possible there are simply more reports of oil rather than an increase in oil escaping the vessel, she said.