Sunk Trawler Leaves Oily Mess in City’s Harbor

Harbor officials are scheduled today to salvage a 46-foot fishing vessel that sank in its slip at Ventura Harbor over the weekend.

The waterlogged trawler spilled at least 100 gallons of diesel fuel from its engines into the harbor.

Cleanup crews spent Sunday and Monday soaking up the oil with booms and absorbent pads. A huge dumpster parked nearby was half-filled with plastic bags full of tainted pads Monday afternoon.

The fishing boat sank Saturday morning after a crew member apparently left an on-board valve open and water leaked in, harbor officials said.

“It was just one of those human errors,” said Oscar Pena, the Ventura Harbor Village property manager. “It was a pretty costly mistake.”

Pena said he is not sure who owns the ship because the slip is leased to another party, which apparently sublet the slip for a short period of time.

“We only know they came in prior to the weekend to unload some fish,” he said. “That transaction didn’t even go through this office.”

U.S. Coast Guard officials are supervising the cleanup, with Petty Officer Tom Haug saying it should be completed by this afternoon. “We’re making sure the oil gets recovered properly,” Haug said.

The ship, called the Tai Loi and apparently anchored in San Pedro, remained partly submerged Monday afternoon, roped off by a collection of bright yellow booms preventing oil from spreading further into the harbor.

“We’ve been able to recover most of the oil,” said cleanup worker Antonio Ponce.