Grounded Casitasis Scuttled at Sea

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Friday, August5, 2005

COAST GUARD PHOTO / LT. J.G. ROBERT MOOMAW
A Coast Guard crew inspects hoses for leaks during July 9 operations at the Casitas, when it was grounded at the Pearl and Hermes Atoll.

Grounded Casitasis scuttled at sea

By Diana Leone

A ship that went aground in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands on July 2 was successfully removed from the reef and scuttled at sea yesterday.

The ship Casitas, valued at $1.2 million, was judged by rescue crews to be too damaged to salvage, said Barbara Maxfield, U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman.

The 145-foot ship was pulled off the reef at Pearl and Hermes Atoll at 11:31 a.m. yesterday morning. Additional holes in the hull were patched and pumps were kept operating to keep the Casitas afloat until it reached an approved disposal site at approximately 1:35 p.m.

The Casitas was confirmed sunk in 7,200 feet of water at 4:45 p.m., about six miles north-northwest of its grounding, Maxfield said.

"On behalf of all the parties involved, we are very pleased to see this operation safely completed," said Coast Guard Capt. Manson Brown, federal on-scene coordinator for the Unified Command, a joint task force consisting of the Coast Guard, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the state and the ship's owner, Fishing Vessel Northwind Inc.

"The Unified Command shared a common commitment to remove the potential pollutants and extract the vessel from the reef with no human injuries and as little damage to the environment as possible. Given the remote location and the significance of the reef ecosystem, it was a challenge; a challenge we can now say we met."

Earlier this week, about 1,850 gallons of gasoline in barrels was transferred from the Casitas to the 240-foot barge serving as the operations base for the extraction.

About 30,000 gallons of fuel had been removed from the vessel earlier.

Equipment and personal gear were removed from the Casitas before sinking. But because of safety concerns, about 15 tons of marine debris and other trash were left on the vessel but stowed in sealed, double-hulled holds. Entombment of this type is not unusual, Maxfield said.

The Casitas was under contract with the National Marine Fisheries Service as a platform for its annual cleanup of marine debris in the Northwestern Islands.

"We're very, very pleased to have the ship off of the refuge," said Maxfield. "Certainly it was done in a safe manner. They tried very hard not to damage the environment, and we appreciate that."

There were early reports of a light petroleum sheen on the water near the Casitas. The fuel leakage apparently was small, and since then wildlife officials found no evidence of harm to endangered Hawaiian monk seals, green sea turtles or birds that inhabit the remote islands.

It is estimated the rescue operation's cost will top $5 million, Maxfield said.

Posted on: Thursday, July 7, 2005

Group demands answers about ship's grounding

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

The environmental group Kahea demanded answers yesterday about the grounding of the work vessel Casitas, which remained aground on the Pearl and Hermes Atoll northern reef yesterday after hitting the coral at 2 a.m. Saturday.

"We have grave concerns about the plight of the wildlife there after exposure to the oil/fuel spill, the impact of this massive ship on the reef, and the future impacts to wildlife from oil and fuels having been released," said Cha Smith, executive director of Kahea, which calls itself the Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance.

Pearl and Hermes, a part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, at midsummer is home to pupping Hawaiian monk seals, the hatching season for Hawaiian green sea turtles and fledging Laysan albatross.

The Coast Guard cutter Walnut was scheduled to arrive at the scene tomorrow, after being dispatched from an aids-to-navigation assignment in American Samoa, and the American Marine salvage vessel Quest left Honolulu yesterday for the scene.

BROKEN DEPTH FINDER?

Two significant concerns are the damage the rocking steel ship is causing to the reef and the potential spilling of its 33,000 gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline. No oil was seen during a Coast Guard overflight yesterday, but a sheen was spotted south of the ship for two days after the grounding. The oil had been drifting southwestward across the atoll.

Smith said Kahea learned from a member of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Council that the Casitas had been sailing with an inoperative depth finder — which could have signaled that it was entering shallow water.

"Why were they under way in the middle of the night, near the reef, without a depth finder?" said Smith. "Stuff is not adding up."

Coast Guard Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson said she could not confirm or deny the information about the depth finder. She said the Coast Guard during the foreseeable future will release no information about the investigation. She would not comment on whether the Casitas was under power when it hit the reef, whether it was suffering any mechanical difficulties, whether it had intended to anchor or had anchored near the wreck site, or other details.

"Nothing is going to come out on that until the investigation is complete and signed off by headquarters," she said.

4-MONTH ASSIGNMENT

The Casitas was on its way from Midway, roughly 90 miles to the west, and had a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special-use permit to conduct marine debris removal work first at Pearl and Hermes, and then later at Maro Reef and French Frigate Shoals. The 16 divers — 11 men and 5 women — were on a four-month assignment collecting marine debris from the islands' reefs and beaches. Some are National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries employees and some work for the University of Hawai'i's Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research.

The ship had been expected to remain at Pearl and Hermes for about a week, said Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Barbara Maxfield.

The divers and the ship's seven-member crew left in small boats after the ship went aground. The Coast Guard reported no injuries to those aboard the ship.

Maxfield said they used small boats that had been on board Casitas to get to North Island, a flat sandy island just inside the northeast side of Pearl and Hermes' barrier reef.

DEBRIEFINGS TO COME

On Sunday, the 23 members traveled nearly 10 miles to Southeast Island, another sandspit, but the largest piece of dry land within the atoll. An NOAA Fisheries research team was on the island conducting monk-seal research.

NOAA's research vessel Oscar Elton Sette, which had been at Midway, was diverted to the scene and picked up the crew members Sunday night. They reached Midway at 6:30 a.m. Monday.

The ship's crew members were flown back to Honolulu on a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft, arriving at 1 a.m. yesterday. NOAA Fisheries spokeswoman Wende Goo said provisions were being made to find housing for divers who had given up their apartments for the expected four-month cruise. She said the crew was being given an opportunity to rest, and then would be debriefed by the Coast Guard.

Johnson and Goo said the crew members would not be allowed to make public statements until they have been interviewed by the Coast Guard.

The removal of the ship and response to any oil spill will be the function of Unified Command, a collaboration between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Coast Guard, NOAA Fisheries, the state Department of Health and the ship's representatives.

Charter Vessel Grounds on Pearl and Hermes Reef in NWHI

Crew rescued, fuel removed, salvage equipment and damage assessment team en route

USCG Cutter Walnut transfers fuel off the grounded vessel
Casitas, July 10, 2005. Photo: USCG

On July 2nd, 2005, the M/V Casitas, owned and operated by F/V Northwind Inc., a Seattle-based company, ran aground on Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). NOAA had chartered the 145-foot Casitas to assist in marine debris removal in the remote island chain. The NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette picked up all 23 people on board, including the crew and 16 divers from the NOAA/University of Hawaii Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, and transported them safely to Midway Atoll. On Wednesday, July 5th, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) returned all of them to Oahu, Hawaii via C-130 Hercules aircraft.

Initial efforts to re-float the chartered vessel were unsuccessful, however, the vessel is currently intact and upright. At the time of the grounding, the Casitas had on board approximately 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel, 3,000 gallons of gasoline, 200 gallons of lube oil, and 14 metric tons of marine debris. On July 8th, the USCG Cutter Walnut arrived on-scene and successfully removed nearly all of the diesel fuel from the vessel. Specialized salvage vessels are now en route, but are not expected to arrive until the end of July.

NOAA's Role

NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) is providing technical support to the USCG during the response and is working with the State and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to minimize threats to Pearl and Hermes Atoll. These threats include potential toxicity from any oil spill and physical disturbance from the vessel and associated salvage activities.

Rigging the hoses for fuel transfer, July 9, 2005. Photo: USCG

NOAA OR&R provides both scientific and technical support to the USCG during an oil spill, and acts as a natural resource trustee to protect and restore those resources impacted by the spill. NOAA's support includes providing predictions of where fuel oil would go if it were spilled, assessments of natural resources at risk, and daily weather reports. Now that the fuel has been removed from the vessel, the USCG, NOAA, the State of Hawaii, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Responsible Party are all working together to develop and execute plans for the removal of the Casitas from the reef while minimizing physical harm to the reef. Once the vessel is removed, NOAA scientists will participate in field assessment studies to determine the extent of impacts and potential for restoration activities.

The NWHI Coral Reefs

Pearl and Hermes Atoll is 86 nautical miles (nm) southeast of Midway Atoll and 1,200 nm from Honolulu, Hawaii. Pearl and Hermes is comprised of several small islands, totaling only 80 acres, surrounded by over 450 square miles of coral reefs. The atoll and reef system are part of the State of Hawaii. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages the atoll as part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge. NOAA manages the recently designated Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve (NWHICRER), which extends from the 3 nm territorial seas boundary out to 50 nm. Except for visiting scientists, the islands are uninhabited. For other maps of the atoll, please visit the Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment's Northwest Hawaiian Island Maps.

The NWHI coral reefs are the foundation of an ecosystem that hosts more than 7,000 species, including marine mammals, fishes, sea turtles, birds, and invertebrates. Many are rare, threatened, or endangered. The living coral reef colonies of the NWHI are a spectacular underwater landscape covering thousands of square miles and comprising the majority of coral reefs in the United States. NOAA has initiated the process to designate the NWHICRER as our country's 14th (and largest) national marine sanctuary. These remote reefs are some of the healthiest and most undisturbed coral reefs on the planet.

NOAA's Marine Debris Program

Over the past several years, the NWHI have been the focus of a multi-agency marine debris removal effort. Nets and other persistent marine debris have become stranded in the extensive reef system, damaging corals and entangling wildlife. Since 2000, NOAA and partners have removed over 400 metric tons of marine debris from the NWHI. By the end of 2005, the majority of existing accumulations of debris will be removed from the islands, and future efforts will focus on preventing or removing new accumulations of debris.

Caring for such a vast and remote place as the NWHI is a great responsibility and the challenges are many. To meet them, state and federal agencies have partnered to work collaboratively to protect this important area. The NWHI marine debris removal effort is an excellent example of this collaboration. Over 25 partners are involved, including municipal, state and federal agencies; non-profit organizations; private corporations; and the fishery management council.

Related Information

• USCG District 14's Public Information Site Provides Unified Command News Release updates regarding the monitoring of the M/V Casitas, as well as some short video clips.
• Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) Marine Debris Removal Effort:
• Marine Debris Survey and Removal From the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Conservation Program 2003 Pacific Highlight. (PDF file; 176K)
• Marine Debris Removal From the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Conservation Program 2002 Pacific Highlight. (PDF file; 304K)
• NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center PIFSC administers scientific and monitoring programs that support the domestic and international conservation and management of living marine resources.
• Rescued divers returned safely to Honolulu after chartered marine debris cleanup vessel Casitas grounded at Pearl and Hermes Atoll A July 11, 2005 article regarding the grounding of the M/V Casitas and rescue of its divers and scientists.
• NOAA's Marine Debris Program A national and international effort focused on identifying, removing, reducing, and preventing debris in the marine environment.
• National Marine Sanctuary Program The National Marine Sanctuary Program offers expertise in vessel groundings and coral habitat injury and restoration. Pearl and Hermes Atoll is within the recently designated Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve (NWHICRER).
• Wellwood Reef Restoration Project Learn about efforts to restore Molasses Reef, within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, after the 122-meter freighter M/V Wellwood ran agound there in August, 1984.
• Columbus Iselin Reef Restoration Project Read about efforts to restore an ancient coral reef in Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary, after the August, 1994 grounding of the 155-foot research vessel Columbus Iselin. Includes maps and images of the restoration site.
• Office of Response and Restoration Tools and information for emergency responders and planners, and others working to understand and mitigate the effects of oil and hazardous materials in our waters and along our coasts.
• NOAA Abandoned Vessel Program Abandoned vessels pose a significant threat to coral habitats through both physical destruction and the dispersion of toxic chemicals and gear. NOAA is addressing this issue by creating a comprehensive database of abandoned vessels that could potentially threaten coral ecosystems in U.S. waters.
• Aids for Oil Spill Responders Tools and information for people dealing with spills of oil and petroleum products.
• Oil Types Spill responders group oil into four basic types. This list describes the four types and provides a general summary of their behavior when spilled in the environment.
• Coral Reef Conservation Program NOAA’s main coral website; includes links to other NOAA coral-related sites and NOAA's Coral Kingdom photo gallery.
• Damage Assessment and Restoration Program DARP conducts long-term damage assessment studies for oil and chemical spills and vessel groundings.

Revised: July 27, 2005
Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Posted on: Saturday, July 9, 2005

Preventing oil spills crucial during work to dislodge ship

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

With up to 200 adult Hawaiian monk seals and 30 to 40 of their pups living in the area, removal of fuel and oil from the grounded ship Casitas at Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands will be a delicate operation.