Fishing Boat Was on an ASPA Charter

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The  longliner which ran aground the reef near Aunuu last Friday,  #1 Ji Hyun, was on its way to Manu’a on a charter by the American Samoa Power Authority to deliver fuel and supplies.

The boat experienced  problems with its main engine and the strong tides eventually swept the boat on to the reef west of Aunuu where it now rests in an upright position.

At a meeting held yesterday, a U.S. Coast Guard team from Honolulu gave a progress report on their efforts to remove the vessel from the reef without causing major damage to the reef.

As of yesterday, 515 gallons of diesel fuel had been removed from the boat and all of ASPA’s equipment which was being transported to Manu’a had been returned to the authority , along with  144 bags of cement and 40 bags of sand.

The US Coast Guard team expects that all preparations to stabilize the boat and remove all fuel on board will be completed by tomorrow.

Port Administration has been given the task of providing a salvage plan and a rough draft is expected tomorrow afternoon.

Once they have a plan to tow the boat, the team plans to contract tug boats from independent Samoa to pull  the long liner from the reef.

The costs of  the foreign vessel and crew is reported to be  from $13-14, 000  daily per tugboat.

While the boat is stationary at the moment the main concern besides the environment, is the approaching Tropical Cyclone Amos whose strength should be felt by Saturday.

At the latest the Coast Guard plans to tow the boat  from the reef next week.

 

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