SEA SHEPHERD INTERNATIONAL January 22, 2000 TANKER RUNS AGROUND IN THE GALAPAGOS When the oil tanker Jessica ran aground on a reef near San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos on January 17, the Sea Shepherd vessel Sirenian, on loan to the Galapagos National Park to assist in conservation patrols, sped to the scene along with the Ecuadorian patrol vessel Guadalupe River. Upon arrival, Sirenian crew went aboard the Jessica and found it listing badly. The stern is caught in a rocky shallow bottom but the bow is swinging in deeper water. It is anchored, and that is helping to stabilize the bow somewhat. Sirenian offered to try to pull the Jessica free. After consultation with the captain, this was not done due to the fear that this would cause more damage and contribute to the actual sinking of the ship. The Naval commander informed Sirenian of the plan to transfer the fuel to a barge. They also sent down divers there but said that the visibility is bad because sand gets kicked up to the surface and that the damage is hard to assess because it is sitting on rocks. The Jessica is on the reef, with a hole in her engine room and with the reef acting as a plug. The Jessica contains at least 125,000 gallons of fuel as well as 80,000 gallons of crude oil. The oil seems to be contained in the ship, though the engine room is flooded up to the water line and there is a sheen of oil on the water. Evidence of oil can be seen 100 meters out. When below, one can hear scraping as the swell pushes on the ship. The ship is anchored and is stabilized as much as possible. There have been reports of sea lions being contaminated and a surfer was also spotted covered with oil. Sea Shepherd volunteers wrote up a report for both the Minister of the Environment and the U.S. Coast Guard, including photographs of the actual fittings for the oil tanks. Fuel is now being pumped out of the Jessica onto a barge and taken to a port where it is then pumped to fuel trucks. There is concern that at the current rate of pumping it will take over a week to remove all the fuel. The Ecuadorian Navy, Ministry of the Environment, the Galapagos National Park and U.S. Coast Guard personnel are on the scene. Sea Shepherd is contacting international marine wildlife recovery experts in the effort to put together a coordinated wildlife rescue response in concert with oil containment and clean-up operations. "The oil spill worst-case scenario is coming true," said Sea Shepherd president Paul Watson, who piloted Sirenian to the Galapagos from Seattle last month. "If a few animal colonies on any island in the Galapagos are hit hard enough by a disaster like this, it can mean the loss of entire species from the planet. "Like most countries in the world, Ecuador does not have the capacity to mount an emergency response to oil spills. We hope to see a stepped-up international response in the next few days to meet the gravity of this emergency and save this U.N. World Heritage Site." Sea Shepherd International P.O. Box 2616 Friday Harbor, WA 98250 (360) 370-5500 http://www.seashepherd.org [EMAIL PROTECTED]
