09/20/06 Vessel Traffic in the Aleutians Subarea Executive Summary

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Pacific; Alaska; Aleutian Islands
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.205.211; http://www.dec.state.ak.us/spar/perp/docs/060920vesselreport_p.pdf

The 2004 bulk grain ship M/V Selendang Ayu oil spill at Unalaska Island in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands focused attention on the oil spill risks posed by vessels transiting the North Pacific great circle route from the west coast of North America to Asia. For vessels traveling to and from northern Pacific ports, the great circle route intersects the Aleutian Islands, creating an overlap of international vessel traffic with the local traffic near this remote island chain. The Aleutians are also home to the United State’s largest and most valuable commercial fishing grounds and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. This report considers the available data regarding vessel traffic within and through the Aleutians. In some cases, data is limited because foreign vessels transiting the area are not required to report to the U.S. Coast Guard or the State of Alaska. However, the following information was drawn from the available data: • Based on automated tracking data collected from October 2005 through June 2006, about 3,100 ships per year (8-9 vessels each day) pass through the Aleutians (primarily westbound) on great circle, innocent passage, trans-