On November 28, 2004, after loading 1,000 of fuel and 60,200 of soybeans, the Selendang Ayu departed Seattle, Washington,with a crew of 26 along the North Pacific Great Circle Route bound forXiamen, China. Ten days later the 225-meter Malaysian-registered bulkcarrier broke apart off the rugged coast of the Aleutian Islands of Alaskaresulting in the deaths of six crew members, causing the crash of a U.S.Coast Guard helicopter and spilling an estimated 66 million metric tonsof soybeans, 1.7 million liters of intermediate fuel oil, 55,564 liters ofmarine diesel and other contaminants into the environment furthercausing the deaths of seabirds and marine mammals (See page 151).

A U.S. National Transportation Safety Board marine accident brief isthe basis for this report. Despite passing inspection by port authoritiesand U.S. Coast Guard officials prior to leaving Seattle, the seven-yearold Panamax class vessel encountered engine problems approximately100 nautical miles from Dutch Harbor, the closest place of refuge, andabout 46 nautical miles from the nearest point of land. After leavingport in Seattle, the ship had encountered heavy seas and between galeand strong gale force winds.

On his second transit of the Bering Sea, the vessel’s master, a citizenof India and a 32-year seagoing veteran, notified the harbormasterin Dutch Harbor via the vessel’s satellite phone he was having difficultiesand needed assistance. The Coast Guard immediately dispatchedthe cutter Alex Haley but because of the rough seas could only reacha top speed of 10 knots. Nearly six hours later, the cutter reached theSelendang Ayu and attempted to slow its drift toward the coastline byattaching a tow line to the vessel until the tugboat Sidney Foss arrived,which was then approximately 11 nautical miles away.

In the meantime, the wind and sea conditions continued to deteriorate.Arriving on scene, the tugboat master reported seeing theSelendang Ayu lying beam to the sea in 7.6-meter seas, hammered by45- to 55-knot winds. Some crew members were desperately strugglingto remain on the bow as the freighter rolled 25 to 35 degreeswith waves crashing over the deck amid passing snow and ice squalls.The remainder of the crew, some who had been up for some 41 hours,worked frantically to restart the engines.

On the scene, the Sidney Foss was able to slow the drift but unableto turn the stricken ship’s bow into the wind as the vessel drifted closerto the shore. A second tug, the James Dunlap, arrived from Dutch Harborwith sunrise 5 ½ hours away, noted the NTSB report. “Because of the seastate and the darkness, the masters of the Sidney Foss and the JamesDunlap decided to wait until daylight before attempting to swing thebow of the Selendang Ayu around by putting a line on the stern.”

Then, some three hours before sunrise, the towline parted andthe stricken vessel continued its now unabated drift toward UnalaskaIsland. At sunrise, with the Selendang Ayu picking up speed toward thecoastline, the ship’s master dropped anchor in hopes to slow or evenstop the drift. It almost worked.

The port anchor immediately caught, slowing and almost stoppingthe vessel’s drift. The feeling of relief was short-lived as some 15minutes later the ship began slipping its anchor under the unrelentingpounding of the growing storm and started to drift at 2 knots towardshore. The weather continued to worsen with steep seas of 6 to 7.6meters and periodic wind gusts of up to 65 knots, which occasionallypushed the waves to 9 to 10 meters. The Coast Guard suggested droppingthe starboard anchor, “but the Selendang Ayu master said the starboardanchor might foul on the port anchor’s chain,” the report stated.

Several attempts to reestablish a towline failed and with now fadinglight and its proximity to shore, the Coast Guard recommendedevacuating the crew. The master finally allowed a group of 18, thosehe considered the least essential for dealing with the emergency, todepart. Wearing lifejackets, but not the reddish-orange buoyant survivalor immersion suit that protects against heat loss and ingressof water, they would be extracted in two groups. (At the time of theaccident, the International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea, SOLAS,required a cargo vessel to carry at least three immersion suits for eachlifeboat, unless the vessel had a totally enclosed lifeboat on each side.The Selendang Ayu carried two fully enclosed lifeboats, one port andone starboard and was equipped with three immersion suits. In anamendment effective July 1, 2006 the SOLAS regulation was changedto require one immersion suit for each person onboard a cargo ship. Anexemption from this requirement for ships that voyage “constantly” inwarm climates is not allowed for bulk carriers.)

Using a USCG HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter that had arrived fromCold Bay, Alaska, the first group of nine Selendang Ayu crew memberswere hoisted from the rolling deck. Then only a mile from shore, theship’s port anchor was dropped. It caught. Shortly thereafter, a secondJayhawk helicopter hoisted the second group of nine sailors from theship. Eight crew members remained on board and continued to workfrantically on the engines. As darkness began to close in, the CoastGuard radioed the master and said they wanted to remove the remainderof the crew before sunset. Then came the first of several shuddersas the vessel ran aground on a small underwater shelf about 130meters offshore. Knowing the ship’s fate, the master radioed the AlexHaley and requested immediate extraction.

The eight remaining crew members gathered on the port bow,where the two previous evacuations had taken place. The vesselwas rolling badly in the shallow water and increasing groundswell.Another HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter was dispatched from DutchHarbor to the scene and a short time later the Alex Haley launched thesmaller HH-65 Dolphin helicopter. Both aircraft reached the freighteraround 6 pm with the larger Jayhawk helicopter performing the rescue.Fifteen minutes later all of the ship’s crew, save the master andthe USCG rescue swimmer, had been hoisted onboard when a hugerogue wave struck the bow of the freighter, sprayed up and engulfedthe Jayhawk. The helicopter’s engines stalled, spun around causingits tail and mail rotor blades to slam into the side of the crippled shipand crashed into the sea next to the Selendang Ayu’s forward port side.The Dolphin helicopter, which had been hovering close by, immediatelywent into rescue mode and quickly recovered the three-memberflight crew and the one Selendang Ayu crew member who survived theThe Selendang Ayu Disaster in the Alaska Arctic88 ARCTIC MARINE SHIPPING ASSESSMENT | Current Marine Use and the AMSA Shipping Databasecrash. With no other sign of survivors, the helicopter headed to DutchHarbor. While the master and the Coast Guard swimmer were awaitingrescue, the ship broke in two on the rocks. After three hours of beingbombarded by crashing waves, howling winds in total darkness, theship’s master and the USCG rescue swimmer were hoisted on board theDolphin, which had returned from its trip to Dutch Harbor. It was 10:35pm on December 8, nearly 60 hours since the Selendang Ayu enginesfailed.

Map 5.8 Accident location in Bering Sea. Inset shows route of Selendang Ayuthrough Unimak Pass, approximate point at which engine failed, path of vessel’sdrift without power, and site on Unalaska Island where it grounded.Source: National Transportation Safety Board