The Japanese commercial fishing vessel Daiki Maru can be seen from Orote Point on U.S. Naval Base Guam. U.S. Navy Photo

The U.S. Navy is partnering with federal and local agencies in Guam in response to potential environmental impacts following the grounding of Japanese fishing vessel in outer Apra Harbor on Wednesday.
The Navy reports that the all 10 crewmembers of the F/V Daiki Maru were rescued by a Navy aircrew after the vessel ran aground near Spanish Steps February 13 and was in danger of sinking. The fishermen were transported to U.S. Naval Hospital Guam for evaluation and later released.
Navy officials are taking all the necessary steps to address the situation and ensure the protection of the environment.
“It’s our number one priority on the Navy base along with all the agencies we are partnering with,” said Capt. Mike Ward, commanding officer of U.S. Naval Base Guam. “We’ve erected a unified command structure to respond to the incident. Our priority right now is to protect the environmentally sensitive area but we’re also developing a salvage and tow plan to remove the vessel off the reef right so we can remove the hazard from the environment. We need to do that safely but as expeditiously as we can.”
The Navy says it is working with the U.S. Coast Guard, Guam Environmental Protection Agency, NOAA, the responsible party and other organizations.
“As soon as we heard the news of the grounding, an environmental assessment team went out there to check for any possible damage that may have occurred to the reef or the sea turtles,” said Anne Brooke, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Marianas conservation program manager. “This is a joint effort by a host of agencies. We train for this kind of thing and are very proficient at this.”

U.S. Navy Photo

U.S. Navy Photo

U.S. Navy Photo