http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=117062

Article reads:
The US Coast Guard is trying to rescue a crew of 22 people aboard a Canadian-bound cargo ship taking on water and listing severely in the north Pacific Ocean, the agency said.

The Singapore-based Cougar Ace, a automobile-hauling ship that left Japan carrying 4,813 vehicles, called for help late Sunday night, according to coast guard officials in Alaska.

"Our primary concern is to get the crew off of the ship," said coast guard petty officer Thomas McKenzie.

A coast guard aircraft and two merchant vessels were at the scene, and the aircraft had dropped a lifecraft into the water in case the Cougar Ace capsized. The ship was reported to have an 80-degree list.

The cause of the accident and the source of water leaking into the ship was not known, according to the Coast Guard.

One crew member had suffered a broken leg, and all had donned survival suits in case they were forced to abandon ship, the coast guard said.

The ship is located 370 kms south of Alaska's Aleutian Island chain.

The ship, owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, left Japan on July 22 and was scheduled to arrive at the Fraser River Port near Vancouver on Friday, officials said.

The 199m ship is also carrying about 500 tons of heavy oil, some of which is leaking and leaving a 3.2 km sheen behind the vessel, McKenzie said.

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Originally posted by Pascal:
She looks as if she is beached on a sand bank... Amazing she still floats in that position.

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Originally posted by Pascal:
She looks as if she is beached on a sand bank... Amazing she still floats in that position.

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Originally posted by timb:

I was thinking about this and trying to figure the physics out. As long as the car decks stay watertight they look like they would provide more boyancy than the hull by virtue of their area and volume. It is also possible that with the large list the source of the flooding is now out of the water which would help stablilize the situation. Any other thoughts???

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My sympathies to the family and friends of that salvager.

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steeplechase wrote:
I don't think the cars would be tied down so there should be one heck of a scratch and dent sale soon.

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Here is your answer:

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Cars From Listing Ship to Sell "Used"
September 13, 2006

Mazda Motor Co. says it won't sell as new any of its 4,700 cars on board a ship that severely listed on its side south of Alaska's Aleutian Islands in July.
 
The COUGAR ACE was transferring ballast in the Pacific Ocean on July 23 when it listed 60 degrees onto its port side, probably damaging some of the cars it was hauling from Japan to three ports on the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada, said Mazda spokesman Jay Amestoy.
 
The ship, which traveled under the Singapore flag, was towed into Portland, Ore., Tuesday morning, where damage was being assessed, officials said.
 
Mazda doesn't know how many cars were damaged or to what extent, Amestoy said, but he said all would be sold as used cars with full new-car warranties. The fact that they were aboard the ship will be disclosed to potential buyers.
 
'We won't sell any of them as new even though we don't know the condition of any of them,' Amestoy said. 'Our policy here is just to make sure the consumer is fully aware of everything.'
 
Beuerman said the ship rolled onto its port side while the crew was releasing water ballast into the Pacific, as required by maritime rules to prevent the introduction of foreign aquatic life into U.S. waters.
 
It took more than a month to right the ship, which keeled over so far onto its side that its propeller was out of the water.
 
The Singapore government is investigating what made the ship list during the ballast change, which happened in international waters, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
 
A naval architect was killed when he slipped and hit his head while aboard the then-sideways ship. All the ship's crew had been rescued safely by the Alaska Air National Guard and the Coast Guard.
 
Mazda increased production in Japan and sent cars to the U.S. from other regions to make up for the automobiles on board, so the incident should not have an impact on the company's new-car sales for the month, Amestoy said.

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Those beyond repair will be immediately scrapped." "In the interest of transparency and customer peace of mind, we will post the vehicle identification numbers (VINs) of vehicles destined for sale on our consumer websites, www.MazdaUSA.com and www.mazda.ca, so that there is no confusion as to which vehicles were on the ship," added O'Sullivan. Slightly more than half of the cars are Mazda3s and about one-fourth are Mazda CX-7s.

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Originally posted by sslewis:
This is a remarkable feat in Maritime history.
The ship was definitely a goner to my eyes!
But she is upright and may sail again.
Now I find strange that most of the cars could be salvaged!
But why would the ship "transfer ballast" in the first place?
Ernst?
And will something happen about the oil leak?

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Originally posted by linerguy:
Looks like it didn't take the Crown Princess crew member very long to find a new job,....

-Russ

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Originally posted by sslewis:
This is a remarkable feat in Maritime history.
The ship was definitely a goner to my eyes!
But she is upright and may sail again.
Now I find strange that most of the cars could be salvaged!
But why would the ship "transfer ballast" in the first place?
Ernst?
And will something happen about the oil leak?

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All the cars were scrapped in February this year, even though few were actually visibly damaged, as "they had spent two weeks at a 60-degree angle. Mazda can't be sure that something isn't wrong with them. Will the air bags function properly? Will the engines work flawlessly throughout the warranty period? Rather than risk lawsuits down the line, Mazda has decided to scrap the entire shipment."

Just wondering if therefore it is risky living on a steep hill where one's car may be parked at an angle all the time. Though not 60°.

Worth a read over a coffee [or two] anyway.