Members of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Juneau were quick to respond to the sinking of the Challenger tug. The 96-foot vessel sank in Juneau’s Gastineau Channel on Sunday, September 5th.
The appointed teams are closely monitoring for any signs of pollution. They have already managed to deploy 400-feet of containment boom.
Watchstanders at the Sector Juneau commander center were notified about the sinking tug on Saturday afternoon. They began immediately broadcasting a Notice to Mariners in order to warn local operators of the potential risks of navigating their respective vessels through the channel.
Sector Juneau response personnel initiated the pollution response fund for the purposes of managing the case federally.
Officials have contracted Global Diving and Southeast Alaska Lighterage for carrying out a thorough evaluation and subsequently removing pollution sources.
“On the top of our list of priorities is the objective of minimizing the sinking’s impact on the environment. Our responders are busy working out scenarios with local contractors for the best removal of this hazard that is troubling navigation in the Gastineau Channel,” commented Lt. Mickey Sanders, Sector Juneau, incident management chief.
Investigators have been appointed for determining the causes behind the incident.
