TERRA.WIRE
US moves to protect Alaskan wildlife after oil spill
 ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AFP) Dec 12, 2004
 The US Coast Guard took measures Sunday to protect salmon from oil spilled by a ruptured Malaysian ship in an Alaskan wildlife refuge, as experts were gearing up to check on the condition of the area's animals, a spokeswoman said.

Bad weather has hampered clean-up efforts, and the fish and wildlife experts' mission depended on whether it would improve, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Cindy Marshall.

"We're really hoping to try to get as much as we possibly can done today," Marshall said, adding that crews and equipment were ready to be dispatched to the affected area as soon as conditions permitted.

The weather remained "rough," with six- to 12-feet (1.8- to 3.7-meter) high seas, but it was expected to be the best conditions since the accident, she said.

Three "booms," devices that block oil, were deployed to protect three salmon-spawning streams in Cannery bay, she said. The Coast Guard was working to deploy more booms in streams and astuaries in another bay.

The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is a nesting haven for 40 million seabirds and numerous marine mammals, including the endangered Steller sea lion and western Alaska sea otter.

The spectacular area is in a chain of islands stretching thousands of kilometers (miles) into the Bering Sea.

Ten of the original 26 crew of the downed Malaysian-flagged vessel, the Selendang Ayu, arrived Saturday in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, where meetings were planned with US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators.

The NTSB is investigating the accident and the crash of a Coast Guard helicopter that lost six of the ship's crew shortly after rescuing them on Friday, but rescue and recovery effort were on hold Sunday.

"We have suspended the search," Marshall said. "The very first priority is not to endanger anyone's life."

The 222-meter (738-foot) freighter, carrying soy beans from Washington state to China, ran aground Wednesday off Unalaska Island in the Aleutian island chain, after its engines failed.

A Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter crashed shortly after plucking the final sailor from the freighter late Wednesday. Ten people on board the helicopter fell into the Bering Sea.

A second Coast Guard helicopter rescued the crew of the wrecked helicopter and one more man from the freighter.

But rescuers on Friday gave up the search for six missing sailors, who had been wearing only street clothes when they plunged into the icy sea. Those lost include four Indians, one Chinese national and a Filipino, a Coast Guard officer told AFP.

Shortly after the crash, the ship -- carrying 483,000 gallons of heavy bunker fuel and 21,000 gallons of diesel fuel -- broke in two, raising fears of an environmental disaster on the same coast where the Exxon Valdez oil tanker hit a reef and caused the world's worst oil spill almost 16 year ago.

On March 24, 1989, more than 40 million liters of oil sullied Prince William bay when the Valdez hit a reef.

An overflight of the Selendang Ayu's wreckage showed oil leaking from both sections of the vessel, though it was unclear how many fuel tanks were involved, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said in a situation report.

The Selendang Ayu is operated by Singapore-based IMC Transworld.

Ayu Navigation of Port Klang, Malaysia is the "potential responsible party," according to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation situation report.