It’s been more than six months since the F/V Arctic Hunter went aground outside Unalaska. Now, the boat’s insurance company is almost ready to drag it off the rocks.
Insurance adjustor Jim Ronning says they’re expecting to sign a deal with a contractor by the end of the week.
That contractor will have to cut the Hunter into pieces and drag them out of the shallows, back to harbor.
Months ago, the plan was to float the boat off the rocks in one piece. But Ronning says winter storms did too much damage — now, the vessel’s little more than scrap metal.
The removal process will also involve clean-up. Ronning says he knows debris from the Hunter is washing up along some of Unalaska’s beaches, and that residents are concerned.
The Ounalashka Corporation owns the tidelands where debris has been spotted. Ronning says he’s been in touch with OC about cleaning it up. He says removing the wreck will create more debris, so he’d like to wait until it’s done, then do clean-up all at once.
The removal could come in the next several weeks, depending on weather. Either way, Ronning says they’ll know more about when clean-up will happen once they finalize their deal with the contractor.
Annie Ropeik is a reporter for KUCB in Unalaska.
