Sunken Canadian ship spewing oil off Alaskan coast: U.S. Coast Guard
A storied Canadian steamship that offered luxury cruises for decades along the British Columbia coast, then served a crucial role during the Second World War transporting troops, supplies and Jewish refugees is now adding an unfortunate chapter to its rich history: the polluting of a major Pacific Ocean inlet.
The Princess Kathleen, a Canadian Pacific cruise ship that sank in a storm off southeast Alaska nearly 60 years ago, has been identified as the source of a persistent oil slick in waters north of Juneau after U.S. Coast Guard officials dived to the wreck site last week.
All 400 passengers and crew were rescued when the 120-metre, 5,900-tonne vessel ran aground on Sept. 7, 1952. But an estimated 580,000 litres of fuel went down with the ship.
Recent reports of leaking oil above the Princess Kathleen’s resting place in the Lynn Canal, North America’s deepest fiord and part of the spectacular tourist route between Juneau and Skagway, prompted the underwater inspection.
“Based on the recent reports of a sheen from the Princess Kathleen and our concern for the environment, the coast guard felt diving on the vessel to determine its actual condition was necessary,” Capt. Melissa Bert, commander of the agency’s Juneau section, said in a statement.
“Any action we take with regard to this vessel will be done in conjunction with our state and local partners, and balance our concern for the environment and its historical significance.”
The investigation, which involved an initial probe using a remotely operated submersible, is being paid for through the U.S. Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, the coast guard stated.
The Princess Kathleen, which now rests on a slope in 25 to 50 metres of water, was built for Canadian Pacific at a Scottish shipyard in 1925. Along with her nearly identical sister ship the Princess Marguerite, Princess Kathleen became one of the company’s showcase passenger vessels in the 1920s and 1930s, carrying tourists between Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle.
After its deployment as a troopship in the 1939-45 war, including numerous runs to the Allies’ strategically important Mediterranean Ocean base in Malta, the Princess Kathleen was put back into service as a cruise ship on Canadian Pacific’s Vancouver-to-Alaska route.
On its last summer voyage in 1952, the ship encountered rough water and became stranded on the rocky Alaskan coast. The passengers and crew were safely moved to shore in lifeboats, and the Princess Kathleen slipped beneath the waves about 10 hours later, with photographers documenting every moment of the ship’s slow-motion demise.