Alaska is hoping to avert an ecological disaster after a 225-metre cargo ship broke in half in the Bering Sea close to the Aleutian Islands, spilling 570 tonnes of heavy bunker oil.
The ship’s engines failed during a storm and it was driven aground. As New Scientist went to press, there were more than 1000 tonnes of oil still aboard the bulk carrier in three tanks that appear to be intact. The-six-year-old Selendang Ayu was carrying soybeans from Tacoma in Washington state on the heavily travelled great-circle route to China, which cuts through the Aleutian Islands. An attempt to tow it clear failed when the 20-centimetre-thick…
