Crews have been very cautious in salvaging a fishing tender that grounded near Valdez last weekend.
According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the Fate Hunter is currently laying on rock ledge as divers assess the vessel.
DEC State-On Scene Coordinator John Engels says there’s been some sheen spotted from the build slots, but none from the vessel itself.
“The fuel vents have been capped and they’re still intact,” Engels said. “So as long as we don’t have a major problem with the pollution going on, we’ll let them take their time and safely go about righting the vessel so that we can lighter the fuel off of it and then raising it up again.”
Engels says there isn’t a timetable as to when the Fate Hunter will be raised.
The 65-foot vessel grounded in Shoup Bay, four miles west of Valdez, Sunday morning.
The four-person crew was safely transported back to Valdez by the Good Samaritan vessel Akemi. No injuries were reported.
Tony Gorman is a reporter at KCHU in Valdez.
