State and local environmental teams were at work this week attempting to salvage a commercial fishing boat that ran aground along the Sonoma Coast last Friday, leaking an unknown amount of diesel fuel into the ocean, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.
The Aleutian Storm, a 58-foot commercial fishing vessel, ran aground the night of Feb. 9, about 2 miles southwest of Bodega Bay in Sonoma Coast State Park near the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.
On Sunday and Monday, the Coast Guard and other agencies attempted to refloat the vessel with a tugboat but were unable to do so. The diesel leaked into the water during the tug operation on Monday.
As of Tuesday morning, petroleum removal began from storage tanks on the vessel, the Coast Guard said.
“Crews were able to remove diesel from one storage tank before tidal conditions made further operations unsafe,” said a statement released by the Coast Guard.
Agencies continued to remove pollution from the vessel and assess the boat’s integrity on Wednesday.
The Aleutian Storm, with a capacity of 3,400 gallons of diesel fuel, had about 1,500 gallons on board, the Coast Guard said in a social media posting.
After the captain of the boat called for help, a Coast Guard boat crew from Bodega Bay and helicopter from San Francisco were dispatched. A California Highway Patrol helicopter and Sonoma County firefighters also assisted.
All four crew members were able to swim to shore and were uninjured.
The exact cause of the ship’s grounding and the amount of diesel that has leaked is still being investigated, the Coast Guard said.
