Risk of Vessel Accidents and Spills in the Aleutian Islands Designing a Comprehensive Risk Assessment - Special Report 293 (2009) / Chapter Skim
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3 The Aleutian Islands: Framing the Issues
3 The Aleutian Islands: Framing the Issues
Pages 57-72
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From page 57... ...
Although navigational hazards exist near the islands and severe weather and sea conditions are common, the pass's main channel is relatively wide, deep, and unobstructed. More than 4,500 vessels now traverse Unimak Pass annually -- a number that has steadily risen in recent years and is anticipated to continue to grow with increases in vessel traffic in Asia and North America, including the Arctic as well as the Aleutian Islands.
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From page 58... ...
This chapter reviews the data and information available to the committee concerning these topics and provides an initial overview of how these issues can be framed within a risk assessment of shipping operations in the Aleutians. Discussed in turn are the region's environmental and ecological assets; its economic assets; its cultural and social values; its geology, oceanography, and climate; and its supporting maritime infrastructure.
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From page 59... ...
• Several sites within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge have been designated as natural or historical under the National Park Service's National Natural and Historical Landmark Programs. 1 The committee gratefully acknowledges the information on Aleutian history and culture provided by Poppy Benson of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and on inva sive species provided by Dave Aplin of the World Wildlife Fund.
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From page 60... ...
Hundreds of thousands of marine mammals breed on the islands, including endangered Steller sea lions and endangered northern sea otters, and together, Bogoslof and the Pribilof Islands host the world's
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From page 61... ...
For many marine mammals, one of the islands' passes, Unimak Pass, provides a critical migratory corridor between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Indeed, Unimak Pass is a veritable marine mammal superhighway, used by humpback whales, sea lions, fur seals, and many other wildlife species moving between the two water bodies.
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From page 62... ...
. Island passes, Unimak Pass in particular, also serve as marine mammal corridors for whales and pinnipeds traveling between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea each year.
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From page 63... ...
They built villages along the seacoast and developed intricate societies supported by the abundant marine mammals, fish, seabirds, marine invertebrates, and seaweed. Their population numbers reached between 15,000 and 25,000.
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From page 64... ...
Pribilof and Aleutian Island communities also participate in the North Pacific fishery through the Community Development Quota program. Shareholder profits are administered by the Central Bering Sea Fishermen's Association on St.
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From page 65... ...
The water depth through Near Strait is about 2,000 meters, and the inflow of the Alaskan Stream through this passage provides most of the mass needed for upper-ocean circulation in the western Bering Sea (NOAA 2000)
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From page 66... ...
. There is a limiting draft of 42 feet from Iliuliuk Bay into Dutch Harbor caused by a bar near a sea buoy (USCG 2006)
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From page 67... ...
There are tide and current tables, including Coast Pilot; tide height sensors are installed at Sennett Point and Unimak Pass; and tugboats currently report sea conditions by using standardized forms. Unalaska Island has a handful of permanent observational platforms; however, all instrumentation is located in the vicinity of Dutch Harbor, some 50 miles away from the site of the M/V Selendang Ayu incident -- on "the opposite side of the island from the incident in a completely different meteorological and oceanographic regime"
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From page 68... ...
states have established prepositioned rescue tugs. In terms of capacity for rescue and oil spill response in the Aleutian region, however, the physical infrastructure needed to respond to large vessels in distress along the North Pacific Great Circle Route -- including Unimak Pass -- is generally minimal and is insufficient under severe weather conditions.
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From page 69... ...
USCG does not, however, operate any vessel traffic monitoring or management system for commercial ships transiting nearby Unimak Pass or for foreign vessels in general using the Great Circle Route through the Aleutian region. The Alaska Marine Pilots -- licensed state pilots whose primary duty is to maintain the safe navigation of a vessel at all times while in transit or maneuvering in compulsory pilotage waters -- also have a base in Dutch Harbor.
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From page 70... ...
. Recognizing the need for additional response assets, local authorities and industries in Dutch Harbor developed an Emergency Towing System (ETS)
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From page 71... ...
. Furthermore, while innovative and commendable, the system is intended to be deployed primarily in Dutch Harbor and therefore is geographically limited in its application.
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From page 72... ...
2007. Dutch Harbor/Unalaska Nation's #1 Port for Seafood Deliveries for 18th Year.
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