HONOLULU — Responders are continuing work to salvage the commercial fishing vessel Pacific Paradise grounded just off Kaimana Beach on Oahu.
Over the weekend, the Coast Guard brought on personnel from Resolve Marine Group, Global Diving and Salvage, Pacific Environmental Corporation and the Coast Guard Salvage Engineering Response Team from the Marine Safety Center. This team surveyed the vessel and are working to further develop and update the salvage plan.
"Salvage operations are always a dynamic and constantly evolving situation. Experts have been engaged. We now have people from all over the country: East Coast, West Coast and Alaska on island to help overcome this challenging situation," said Coast Guard Captain of the Port Capt. Michael Long. "We appreciate the continued patience of the public as we work to resolve this incident."
A safety zone remains in effect around the vessel and non-response personnel are not permitted to board the vessel. For safety reasons, swimming and other recreational activities in the immediate vicinity of the Pacific Paradise are strongly discouraged.
The vessel originally grounded just before midnight Oct. 10. The crew was rescued and about two-thirds of the fuel had been removed. Efforts to refloat and remove the vessel continue following several unsuccessful attempts to tow it from its current location.
More information will be issued as the response continues.
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