ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Leaking fuel oil was becoming a threat to the shoreline of Alaska's remote Aleutian Islands where a soybean freighter ran aground earlier this week.
The deadly wreck of the Selendang Ayu resulted in the crash of a Coast Guard helicopter in which 10 rescued sailors from the vessel were presumed lost.
The attention of emergency crews turned Friday to the freighter's ruptured fuel tanks and a significant amount of fuel that spilled into the waters in what could be the largest oil spill in Alaska since the Exxon Valdez.
The Anchorage Daily News said the ship had about 500,000 gallons of heavy bunker oil aboard when it lost power and ran aground during a bad storm. The oil is heavy enough to sink to the sea floor.
The newspaper said the beach on Unalaska Island is home to sea lions, otters and birds. It is also prime fishing grounds for bottom-dwelling halibut.
