USAV Monterrey Towed To Seward

The U.S. Army vessel Monterrey left Kodiak for Seward yesterday. Army Reserve Major Annemarie Daneker says the 174-foot landing craft is now under the supervision of the Naval Sea Systems Command, and all but two of the Monterrey’s crew have flown home.

The Monterrey hit a charted hazard off the City of Kodiak on June 8th and was intentionally beached on Puffin Island in front of town. About 8,000- to 12,000-gallons of diesel fuel spilled from two ruptured tanks on the ship, but no damage to the environment or harm to wildlife was reported.

The stay in Seward is expected to last 30- to 45-days, where repairs to the hull will be made.

The Monterrey’s 350 tons of cargo – construction equipment destined to help relocate the Western Alaska village of Newtok – will be loaded on the landing craft “Malvern Hill” out of Tacoma.

The Associated Press reports that construction of buildings at the new village site of Mertarvik, scheduled for this summer, has been cancelled.

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Jay Barrett is the news director at KMXT in Kodiak.

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