Posted on 08/02/2004 12:08:35 PM PDT by EUPHORIC
By MARY PEMBERTON
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A small cruise ship catering to eco-tourists was seriously damaged after running aground in the Aleutian Islands.
The accident Saturday night punctured the 340-foot Clipper Odyssey's forward fuel tank and forced 153 people to abandon ship, a Coast Guard official said Sunday. There were no reports of injuries.
Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Roddy Corr said about 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from the ruptured tank, as was some waste water. He said swift currents dispersed the spilled fluid before it could be cleaned up.
Fishing boats and a freighter in the area carried the Clipper Odyssey's 122 passengers and 31 crew members to safety at Unalaska, about 800 air miles west of Anchorage, according to Lt. Asheley Bodkin.
The small cruise ship was refloated with the tide early Sunday.
The Clipper Odyssey was headed west along the Aleutian chain when the accident occurred. The ship takes passengers on cruises lasting a week or more for tours of seal and bird rookeries in the islands, Corr said.
A preliminary investigation indicated that the ship was going about 5 knots when it hit uncharted rocks between two islands, said Doug Bolnick, a spokesman for Clipper Cruise Line, the St. Louis company that operates the tour.
It was on the 7th day of a 12-day tour, Bolnick said.
DONNER PARTY! DONNER PARTY! DONNER PARTY! :)
They should hang their dred heads in shame, and turn in their alpaca ponchos.
Doncha just love IRONY!!!!
Somebody 'splain to me why they weren't paddling man-made canoes, or hiking their way to Alaska instead of hitchin' a ride on a massive fuel-guzzler?
Other than that, all I got to say is, "Oh, Gilligan!"
Did I just read that correctly?
Greenies run aground, spill fuel oil and waste water into the 'enviwoonmet' they so worship, and some even abandon ship?
Talk about 'floating logs'...
If these eco-tourists were really as earth-friendly as they always claim to be, then why are they riding a cruise ship that runs on diesel fuel? With how environmentally conscious they are, I would assume they would ride a boat running on solar energy, hydrogen, or their own hot air.
Was the captain drunk, stoned, or sleeping?
In the Floriduh Keys, it is a serious offense to run aground in the sea grass or on the reefs resulting in fines of $100 to $1000 per foot of damage done. A few years back an envirowacko "research" ship ran aground one of the reefs and tried to cover up the fact that they had badly damaged the reef and caused a lot of damage to the sea grass trying to get off the reef. Final fine was in the order of $180,000 IIRC. I wonder why they didn't want to pay fines for violations of laws that they had written.
Don't forget cleaning the local birds with Dawn dish soap....
"Donner party! Your dinner is waiting!"
When you said "greenies" I thought you were talking about the dog treats.
Barkley would've been p!ssed if a whole boatload of greenies was lost!
"The Clipper Odyssey was headed west along the Aleutian chain when the accident occurred. The ship takes passengers on cruises lasting a week or more for tours of seal and bird rookeries in the islands, Corr said."
"A preliminary investigation indicated that the ship was going about 5 knots when it hit uncharted rocks between two islands, said Doug Bolnick, a spokesman for Clipper Cruise Line, the St. Louis company that operates the tour."
It would appear that this is something that is routinely done ... meaning ... the 'captain' decided to venture out of charted waters for ... whatever reason he thought appropriate.
So the cultic religionists disobeyed their god and look what happened.
Will they do penance?
Turn in their slickers for land-lubbers?
Damned hippies and their environment-destroying pleasure boats. There oughta be a law...
;0)
Ah, it's pungent irony!
bump
Sounds like a total snooze-fest to me - no wonder they hit the rocks.
The Captain of the cruise ship, Joseph Hazelwood could not be reached for comment.
Before these greenies put any other fragile life at risk, they should be restricted to cruising on galleys which they would row.
We should tell them to wait for global warming to melt enough glaciers to re-float the ship.
I know people who have gone on that cruise. It's a nice trip but not exactly a hippie kind of group - more like rich bird watchers on holiday.
ping
First Bidden's house being hit by lightening, now this!! BAWHAHAHHAHAHHA, God ain't no happy camper!!
To provide discerning travelers with a thoughtful way to see places of natural beauty and cultural interest. To this end, we use small, intimate ships with access to secluded waterways that bigger ships could never consider.
I think there's a good reason other ships wouldn't consider using these waterways, don't you?
were the rocks exposed due to the new Ice Age?
Who in the hell is paying for these cruise.
At a cost of over $5,000 per person, hopefull these are not the rank and file Ecoterrotists.
Possible they were so called science teachers and their significant others. The ecoterrorist teachers get great free trips to great places for pushing the Eco Terrorism as science in public schools.
"$1,000.00 fine per spilled gallon..." per eco-terrorist sounds even better!

CLIPPER ODYSSEY
5,200 tons
340 feet in length
51 feet wide
Decks: 5
Passengers: 128
Crew: 52
Entered service: 1989
Registry: Bahamas
The timing of this story is suspicious! I think that this ship didn't run aground; it was torpedoed by the Navy, acting under orders from Rummy! And the boat only ran aground because Goerge W. Bush wasn't aggressive enough to make sure the islands were on the chart!
I know what you mean -- our dogs go *nuts* over these for some reason.
Of course.
They're expensive, but make a great half hour babysitter!
Sounds like more corruption and incompetence from evil environmental groups. There should be a Congressional inquiry into what these people were doing in our territorial waters spreading there pollutants and killing the wilflife. /sarcasm
Okay, you hippies. Go grab a Kodiak and start scrubbing the oil off these seagulls.
Okay, you hippies. Go grab a Kodiak and start scrubbing the oil off these seagulls.
Semper Paratus Ping!
LOL...global warming was supposed to melt the glaciers and drown us all before it was supposed to bring on the next ice age.
Row well and live
Abandoned Ship in Alaska? Too bad the cute little polar bears they love so much did not notice them. The greenies could have spent the day feeding them some fresh meat.
Ah too bad, the oil spill must have chased the bears away.
I love it! Stories like that...imagine these hippies..what they are thinking now..."We supported a concept that ruined the environment!! We contributed to this!.How can I live with myself"...Very hilarious..cept for the lil oil coated maninals that is....

Luggage was offloaded Sunday from the Clipper Odyssey, which grounded Saturday night off the Baby Islands in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The 340-foot luxury vessel traveled to Unalaska-Dutch Harbor under its own power. (Photo by Jim Paulin) Published: August 2, 2004
Cruise ship hits rock; passengers evacuated safely
REFLOATED: Rising tide allows vessel to make port; fuel spill amount unclear.
By DOUG O'HARRA Anchorage Daily News
(Published: August 2, 2004)
An eco-touring cruise ship on a Nome-to-Homer sightseeing trip hit a rock in Akutan Pass in the Aleutian Islands on Saturday night, prompting a flotilla of local boats to ferry more than 150 passengers and crew members about 20 miles into Dutch Harbor that night.
The Unalaska-Dutch Harbor community quickly laid down its welcome plank for the surprise guests -- with the Grand Aleutian Hotel setting up beds in conference rooms and locals delivering goodies, residents said.
"There was a huge outpouring of help from the community, and there were a lot of good Samaritan vessels that actually transferred all of the passengers into Dutch Harbor," said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Daryl Wilson. "Best of all is that there are no reports of any injuries, and that's great."
The 338-foot Clipper Odyssey grounded and punctured its hull off Baby Islands east of Unalaska Island shortly before 9:14 p.m. Saturday with 126 passengers and 70 crew members aboard, according to the Coast Guard and a spokesman for the St. Louis-based Clipper Cruise Lines.
Initial reports suggested an unknown amount of light diesel fuel had leaked at the time of the grounding, but no sheen was seen Sunday during a Coast Guard helicopter flight, according to company and Coast Guard officials.
It wasn't clear Sunday how much fuel went into the ocean during the incident. Chief Warrant Officer Roddy Corr on Unalaska told The Associated Press that 5,000 gallons of fuel had leaked, with two of the ship's chambers ruptured and a gray water tank flooded.
But Clipper spokesman Doug Bolnick said the boat had been carrying only 5,000 gallons in a 20,000-gallon tank during the grounding and had spilled a small amount of fuel.
"The Coast Guard is going to be conducting a marine investigation into this to determine what happened," Wilson said.
The boat, on the seventh day of a 12-day trip, was approaching a promising bird-viewing site after dinner when it struck an uncharted rock in about 70 feet of water, Bolnick said in a phone interview from St. Louis on Sunday evening. The boat was moving at 4 to 5 knots and struck with a "crunching sound," Bolnick said.
LOL!
A little known fact omitted from his movies.
Thanks for the info
OK, there is definitely some irony to this story.
However, about 3 months ago, after seeing an 800 ft cruise ship run aground in high winds in Belize and the fear that our own ship would too, this isn't a laughing matter. Especially with passengers on board. High tide and thrusters finally got her afloat. We stayed nearby an additional 3 hrs till our captain knew she was safe. Companies just don't hand the keys over to a $200,000,000 ship to an inexperienced captain with an "eco-agenda" on his mind that would compromise the safety of the passengers, crew and vessel. Traveling at 5 knots is a slow putt, in gear with basically little to no throttle. It was a very tentative, cautious approach which unfortunately resulted in hitting the rocks.
It this ironic due to the veune? Certainly. But as a boater and "captain" of my own vessel it isn't anything really to laugh at and toss snide remarks at.
Better yet, just imagine all the jet fuel and gasoline each of these greenies burned to get to and from the cruise.
Ha ha ha!!! Somehow I knew I'd find you here!!!
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