The Cougar Ace shipping vessel that began listing severely on July 23rd off the coast of Alaska has finally been righted and is safely moored at Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. The Cougar Ace's cargo of 4,700 Mazda vehicles will likely be unsalvageable, as CargoLaw.com is reporting "most decks suffered vehicle damage and all vehicles must be re-secured". After the vehicles have been re-secured, the next step will be to tow the vessel to a discharging port.
A groundswell of support has also arisen to honor Marty Johnson, the salvage worker who lost his life after slipping and falling from the Cougar Ace, by renaming the ship the M/V Marty Johnson. Those interested in supporting this effort can email cargonews@aol.com for information on how to contribute to the cause.
[Source: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and CargoLaw]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jason @ Aug 22nd 2006 10:28AM
Spare parts for Mazda3's should be plentiful for a while.
_O ^ O_ @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:01AM
What are they going to do with all the water damaged cars? Sell them in 3rd world countries? Scrap metal?
Richard Warren @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:14AM
So much for all the maritime "experts" who stated that the cars would stay secure.
phoenexius @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:21AM
Here is an idea of what the cargo looks like after a wreck:
http://www.blognewsnetwork.com/members/0000001/mpg/tricolorAutos/tricolorAutos.html
The above wreck was the M/V Tricolor carrying Volvos, Saabs and BMWs. I think Volvo tried to recover some of their vehicle's components (I can only imagine extracting engine blocks from that mess)
I remember Chrysler gaving a bunch of waterlogged Prowlers (from a hurricane) to High Schools once, I think Ford has done something similar.
Greg A. @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:16PM
"So much for all the maritime 'experts' who stated that the cars would stay secure."
If you're referring to comments posted on earlier blog entries, I recall that they said that the cars should've stayed in place if they had been properly lashed down. The fact that the ship listed so much probably means that they *weren't* properly lashed down.
I think Mazda should release a list of the VIN's of all the cars aboard this ship so that a shopper can check any car s/he's considering. I wouldn't put it past some Mazda dealers to buy some of these cars at auction, fix them up and sell them as new or dealer-certified pre-owned.
Tim Russell @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:25PM
To be fair the Tricolor capsized and sank. It was a navagation hazard so they used a cable to saw it into managable chunks that could be salvaged. Saw it on a TV show.
The cougar listed really bad and I'm sure the cars are junk due to body damage and fluid leakage. They would be good to donate to school autoshops etc however. Hard parts should all be good.
noe @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:36PM
hurt me to see all those new cars damaged as a car lover :(
James Fabin @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:40PM
CarTV.com has video showing the damage. The cars did extremely well, only a few straps broke sending cars sliding into other cars or support beams. The video is in this weeks CarTV News.
James
Richard Warren @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:59PM
Honda had the same thing happen 1979, a few months later we were able to purchase "port" engines and transmissions, brand new, all equipment on them and a one year warranty. Some stuff can and will be saved and used.
bernie @ Aug 22nd 2006 1:32PM
If Mazda does not CLEARLY and forcefully communicate what is going to happen with these cars, their sales will tank. Are you listening Mazda? Don't try to just park these damaged vehicles on your lots in hopes people won't ask.
champcarfan @ Aug 22nd 2006 1:49PM
Hey bernie, you really think Mazda is going to hang these out on the line for a while and them put them on the lot. Come on give em a little more credit than that.
Chris @ Aug 22nd 2006 2:13PM
It would probally cost Mazda more money to part these cars out than to just scrap them at a loss and try again. They could sell them to a salvage company but Mazda isn't going to touch these things now. Thats what insurance is for and I am sure these vehicles are covered under Mazdas corperate insurance policy. I really don't think they will sell them because the possibilty of these cars being defectiveis too high and the warranty costs would be outragous.
pavster @ Aug 22nd 2006 2:23PM
I wonder if this ship is the reason why Zoom Zoom live didn't have any Mazdaspeed 3 speciments. There was a track area set up for them, with a giant photo, but they were running a bunch of Mazdazpeed 6-es instead.
James Fabin @ Aug 22nd 2006 3:16PM
Here is the link to the video that has footage of the inside of the ship and the damage to the Mazda's on board.
http://www.cartv.com/content/research/channels/index.cfm/channel/cartv_video/action/showvideo/vid/n_0146/vcat/News/
DJ @ Aug 22nd 2006 6:01PM
Is it true that it took nearly two tons of Viagra dumped into the water to get this thing up?
John B @ Aug 22nd 2006 8:36PM
I'm not sure why everyone is focusing on Mazda - I expect the cargo was insured. The question now I guess is what will the insurance company do with badly damaged cars.
nautical lore @ Aug 23rd 2006 1:33AM
It is considered bad luck to rename a ship. Sailors are superstitious people, they care about such things. Why don't you all just leave them to their business?
Leslie @ Aug 24th 2006 10:45PM
I am a merchant marine and it's all about the stability calculations done by the crew. This is done with a computer system where you enter the weight of the cargo and where it’s placed, that in turn tells you how to ballast, where to keep ballast. It's fail safe and dummy proof? They should be really questioning the validity of the Crew. It's the Chief Mates Job to do stability Calculations prior to departure and once a day everyday at sea. The Long shore man that loaded and lashed down the cars should be questioned too, although it is ultimately the ships crew who checks the cargo out and clears the ship to leave port. All cargo should be manually checked everyday at sea as part of the Cargo mate’s rounds. I can't believe that will all the computer help we mariners have out there that they could allow this to happen. Just a slight list in the ship should be corrected right away, how did it get to 80 degrees? The responsibility is on the ships officers. As a ship's officer I have to say that this incident should not have happened if they were doing they're job.
RICHARD G. BADER @ Aug 30th 2006 10:55AM
WHAT WAS THE METHOD OF OPERATION IN RIGHTING THE SHIP, AND WHAT WAS THE MASTER OF THE SHIPS COMMENTS ABOUT THE REASON OR PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LISTING.
RICHARD G. BADER @ Aug 30th 2006 10:56AM
WHY HAVEN'T WE SEEN MORE ON THIS VESSELS RIGHTING ON TV, OR IN THE NEWS MEDIA, AND WHAT WERE THE MASTER OF THE SHIPS COMMENTS ABOUT THE SITUATION, AND HOW IT CAME TO BE. WHAT WAS THE MO.DI OPERANDI OF RIGHTING THE VESSEL?????????/