Of course I pray that all crewmembers are safely rescued, but 4,813 brand new Japanese vehicles appear to be headed to a watery grave.

Cargo ship taking on water in north Pacific
24 Jul 2006 20:52:38 GMT
Source: Reuters



(Updates, adds details. Coast Guard now say 22 people on ship)


ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard is trying to rescue a crew of 22 people aboard a Canadian-bound cargo ship taking on water and listing severely in the north Pacific Ocean, the agency said on Monday.


The Singapore-based Cougar Ace, a automobile-hauling ship that left Japan carrying 4,813 vehicles, called for help late Sunday night, according to Coast Guard officials in Alaska.


"Our primary concern is to get the crew off of the ship," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Thomas McKenzie.


A Coast Guard aircraft and two merchant vessels were at the scene, and the aircraft had dropped a lifecraft into the water in case the Cougar Ace capsized. The ship was reported to have an 80-degree list.


The cause of the accident and the source of water leaking into the ship was not known, according to the Coast Guard.


One crew member had suffered a broken leg, and all had donned survival suits in case they were forced to abandon ship, the Coast Guard said.

The ship is located 230 miles (370.1 km) south of Alaska's Aleutian Island chain.


The ship, owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, left Japan on July 22 and was scheduled to arrive at the Fraser River Port near Vancouver on Friday, officials said.


The 654-foot (199.3-metre) ship is also carrying about 500 tons of heavy oil, some of which is leaking and leaving a 2 mile (3.2 km) sheen behind the vessel, McKenzie said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N24399318.htm

 

hmmm....i'm expecting a fit here soon...maybe i should contact my salesman and see what info they have.

 

oh man.. a Jap. made Fit is now even MORE RARE!! OMG!!

 

Canadian Bound!

Do w know if there are Fit's on this Boat???

 

it's japan or japanese.. jap is so demeaning

-joe

 

maybe i'm reading too fast and overlooked osmething, but where does it say this ship had imported cars onboard?

 

1. it left japan
2. it carried cars
3. it was headed for canada

-joe

 

Japanese made..

 

I heard on CNN it came from Singapore.

 

The ship is owned by a Singaporean company. SO technically, it is from SG. But the cargo was shipped from Japan.

EDIT: OK not a SG company. But the ship is flagged SG.

 

Based upon the San Diego Maritime Information System Schedule, it doesn't look like the Cougar Ace was heading to the USA. While it's still someone's loss, the cars should be covered by insurance. I just hope they get the crew off of there safely.

Edit to add (from SeattleTimes.com): The Singapore-flagged Cougar Ace — owned by Tokyo-based Mitsui O.S.K. Lines — was carrying 4,813 vehicles from Japan to Vancouver, British Columbia, said Greg Beuerman, a spokesman for the ship owner.

 

Apparently the Cougar Ace had two destinations. First it was to stop in Vancouver, B.C., then it was going to Tacoma, Washington to offload 1,376 Mazda's. No indication made whether or not there were any Honda's on the ship.

TACOMA, Wash. -- A ship carrying 4,800 cars that is taking on water in the north Pacific had been scheduled to arrive Sunday, July 30 at the Port of Tacoma.

The ship Cougar Ace rolled nearly onto its side and was taking on water south of the Aleutian Islands. Its 22 crewmembers were preparing to abandon ship.

A Coast Guard plane had dropped three liferafts earlier Monday, but the rough seas ended up moving the rafts under the ship.

Port of Tacoma spokesman Mike Wasem said the ship was scheduled to unload nearly 1,376 Mazdas at the port's Blair Waterway dock.

Tacoma apparently was to be the second West Coast stop. The ship owner said the first was to be at Vancouver, British Columbia.

It's unclear what impact the apparent loss of thousands of cars will have on the market. Wasem says Tacoma expects to receive about 160,000 cars this year from Japan and Korea for train shipment to markets across the United States.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/9567838/detail.html

 

I know this is an old post, but here is an amazing article about how they righted the Cougar Ace. It's a long read, but well worth it.

High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas: The Race to Save the Cougar Ace

Oh, and the cars were Mazdas. You'll have to read through the article to find out what happened to them!

-piper

 

So this isn't the first time the Cougar Ace has nearly capsized? I think the ship is cursed!

 

No, both articles are about the same incident, however, the write-up from Wired was just done recently.

 

That would suck if someones Fit was on there.
Recently a BMW carrying ship sank with a bunch of new M3's and new 1 series Bimmers on it. The guys over at 1addicts.com were freaking out!

Tyler

 

what like japspeed?

 

Yea, older story, great write up from the link above about the salvage. I still cannot not belive that they shreadded EACH and EVERY car on there. From other links on diff pages, I saw tons of Miatas, RX-8s, and many 3s. Sucks, you think Mazda would have shipped all the cars back ,and then strip them of usable parts (rims, glasswork, body panels, interiors, lights). Reading the article, only 1%-2% of the cars were submurged....the other 98%-99% of the other cars were out of the water, but at a 45 degree angle for two weeks.

 

Sliverworm didn't say "Jap", he abbreviated Japanese made as "Jap. made". See that period after the p? He didn't demean anyone.
Why is that phrase thought of as demeaning, anyhow? It only means Japanese. I mean, geez.

 

Jap is a term originally used as an English abbreviation of the word "Japanese." Today it is regarded as an ethnic slur, though English speaking countries differ in the degree they consider the term offensive. Japanese Americans have come to find the term controversial or offensive, even when used as an abbreviation. In the past, Jap was not considered primarily offensive; however, after the events of World War II, the term became derogatory.