The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Marine Safety Office (MSO) Honolulu was notified by the MSD office in America Samoa that the fishing vessel Jin Shiang Fa ran aground on Rose Island, approximately 150 miles east of America Samoa sometime after midnight on October 14. The crew abandoned ship and were rescued by another fishing vessel in the area. The Jin Shiang Fa , a 137-foot, Taiwanese flagged fishing vessel, was carrying 10,000 gallons of diesel in its internal fuel tanks, as well as an additional 100,000 gallons (2,390 barrels) of diesel in its forward cargo holds when it went aground. A Coast Guard overflight reported the vessel hard aground on the west side of Rose Island, south of the narrow opening into the inner lagoon. A sheen, two miles long by 200 yards wide, trailed from the vessel in a northwesterly direction away from the island. An overflight the following day indicated that the vessel had a 30 degree list to port and an 11-mile by 200-yard wide sheen trailing to the northwest. USCG district 14. Keyword: coral reef, salvage.

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Note: Documents are posted chronologically and early reports likely contain factual errors. These errors may be corrected in a later report.