Apparent oil spill
under scrutiny

An oil sheen appears near
a grounded ship in
a marine reserve

A 500-yard-wide oil sheen spotted yesterday morning near a research vessel that ran aground in a marine reserve on Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is causing concern for Coast Guard officials, who are monitoring the situation.

It will take at least three more days for an en-route Coast Guard cutter equipped with a "Spilled Oil Recovery System" to get to the 145-foot Casitas.

Right now, a Coast Guard C-130 is watching from overhead but has not been able to determine whether the grounded vessel has a leak. Coast Guard aerial crews did notice, however, that the sheen appeared to go away after an oil containment boom was put in the water.

"They really don't, at this point, know the extent of the environmental damage," said Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson. "They are coming up with contingency plans."

The area where the Casitas ran aground is inhabited by monk seals and other protected species.

The Coast Guard has reported that the ship -- which is carrying an estimated 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel, 3,000 gallons of gasoline and 200 gallons of lubricating oil -- suffered severe damage when it ran aground early Saturday.

The ship, under charter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was en route to Maro Reef and French Frigate Shoals with scientists from the NOAA and the University of Hawaii Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research on an annual marine debris cleanup.

None of the ship's 23 crew members and passengers were injured in the grounding.

They were picked up last night by NOAA research vessel Oscar Elton Sette, which was in the area, and are expected to be taken to Midway Island and then flown back to Honolulu in a Coast Guard aircraft.

Ironically, during its marine debris voyage last year, the Casitas discovered the remains of what were believed to be the whaling ships Pearl and Hermes, which struck a reef in 1822.

The atolls are named after the sunken ships.