Burned car carrier still drifting northwest of Hawaiian Islands
U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY HC-130 HERCULES 1720/RELEASED
A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircrew flew over the 650-foot Sincerity Ace on fire 1,800 nautical miles northwest of Oahu in the Pacific Ocean, Dec. 31, and dropped supplies to the 944-foot bulk carrier Genco Augustus.
The large car carrier that burned 2,000 miles northwest of Oahu remained disabled on the high seas, a spokesman for the ship’s owner said Monday.
A tug was scheduled to arrive on the scene late Sunday night to assess what’s necessary to salvage the 650-foot Sincerity Ace, said Darrell Wilson of Shoei Kisen Co. Ltd. of Japan.
The Panamanian-flagged car carrier caught fire Dec. 31 while on its way from Japan to Honolulu. Sixteen crew members were rescued but four died and another was missing. The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its active search-and-rescue operations Jan. 2.
The Serenity Ace — said to have several thousand Nissan vehicles on board — is chartered to Mitsui O.S.K. of Japan.
