The F/V Northern Pride was found hard aground along Katmai National Park’s Shelikof Strait coastline May 7.
But as of Friday, park staff, part of the team effort to oversee salvage operations, say the vessel has been removed and the area cleaned.
The Northern Pride caught fire and capsized on April 21 northeast of Marmot Island (57 miles from Kodiak). The three crew onboard abandoned ship and were rescued from a raft by a US Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter. The ship capsized and was believed to have sunk, but reappeared once before it turned up hard aground on Katmai’s coast.
There was some concern that the vessel might leak oil or fuel, but initial site visits by park staff found few, if any, signs of spill.
The wooden vessel had come apart, however, and Katmai’s Chief of Resource Management Troy Hamon said the debris needed to be cleaned up.
“There were a lot of wood pieces that had nails sticking out of it, stuff like that, that our wildlife don’t normally encounter. One of our concerns was just making sure that there wasn’t some of that lumber there that could’ve caused harm to an animal.”
But Hamon said a two-day salvage effort by Kodiak-based Global Diving and Salvage was successful, and the beach and surrounding area have been cleaned.
Matt Martin is a reporter for KDLG in Dillingham.
