Updated at 8:32 a.m., Friday, October 12, 2007
Coast Guard clarifies report of fuel leak from UH vessel
Advertiser Staff
The Coast Guard said this morning that it has yet to determine how much of the 4,400 gallons of diesel fuel from a University of Hawai'i research vessel moored at Sand Island Treatment Plant, pier 45 has leaked into the water."We won't know until the morning but it's not as much as originally was sent out (to media)," a Coast Guard official said early this morning.
The master of the Kaimikai-O-Kanaloa, a 198-foot research vessel, contacted the Coast Guard yesterday at approximately 11:45 a.m. The master said a cracked fuel tank had allowed fuel to leak into the water.
The vessel's crew immediately shut down all operations and set up absorbent boom, to contain the spill.
The Kaimikai-O-Kanaloa contracted the Pacific Environmental Corporation to clean up the spill. PENCO was on scene removing the fuel, the Coast Guard said. Officials will know how much fuel spilled later today when the repair team can fix the pipe after the sun rises.
There were no injuries.
