MV Cougar Ace
{{Short description|Car-carrier ship that wrecked in 2006}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{about|the ship|the bus|ACE Cougar}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Cougar Ace on side (starboard side).jpg |Ship caption=Cougar Ace listing to port, view towards bow end }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship name=Cougar Ace |Ship owner=Mitsui O.S.K. Lines |Ship operator= |Ship registry={{flag|Singapore|civil}} Singapore |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=K.K. Kanasashi, Toyohashi, Japan |Ship original cost= $100-million+ |Ship yard number=3305 |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=30 June 1993 |Ship completed=October 1993 |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service=May 2020 |Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|9051375}}
|Ship fate=Scrapped 19 June 2020 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Roll On-Roll Off car carrier |Ship tonnage=*{{GT|55,328}}
|Ship displacement= |Ship length= {{convert|199|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|32.26|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught={{convert|9.72|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship draft= |Ship depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=Mitsubishi |Ship speed={{convert|18.6|kn}} |Ship capacity=5,542 automobiles |Ship crew= |Ship notes= }} |
MV Cougar Ace was a Singapore-flagged roll-on/roll-off car carrier vessel. The Cougar Ace was built by Kanasashi Co., of Toyohashi, Japan and launched in June 1993. Specifications cite a length of 199m, draft of 9.72m, beam of 32.26m and a maximum speed of {{convert|18.6|kn}}. Her Gross Tonnage is 55,328. She is owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.{{cite web | url = http://www.carcarrier.de/doku.php/schiffe:carcarrier:9051375 | title = Cougar Ace | accessdate = 2 August 2006 | language = German}}
On 4 May 2005, Cougar Ace delivered 5,214 automobiles at the Fraser River wharves in Richmond, British Columbia. This set a Canadian record for the most vehicles offloaded from a single ship.{{cite web
|url = http://www.mol.co.jp/opensea/05_e0507ado.html
|title = Fraser Wharves Sets New Auto Delivery Record
|accessdate = 1 August 2006
|date = 4 May 2005
|work = Open Sea
|publisher = Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070926223607/http://www.mol.co.jp/opensea/05_e0507ado.html
|archivedate = 26 September 2007
}}
Loss of stability incident
On 23 July 2006, she was en route from Japan to Vancouver, British Columbia; Tacoma, Washington; and Port Hueneme, California, with a cargo of 4,812 vehicles. During an exchange of ballast water south of the Aleutian Islands, she lost stability and developed a 60° list to port. There were reports of a large wave striking the vessel during the ballast transfer, but it is unknown what effect this had on her loss of stability.{{cite web
| url = http://www.seattlepi.com/local/278870_ship26.html
| title = Rescued crew of listing ship happy to be alive
| accessdate = 11 November 2006
| last = D'Oro
| first = Rachel
| date = 26 July 2006
| publisher = Seattle Post-Intelligencer
}}
On 24 July, the United States Coast Guard and the 176th Wing of the Alaska Air National Guard successfully rescued the 23 crew members.{{cite web
| url = http://www.seattlepi.com/local/278726_ship25.html
| title = 23 are rescued as cargo ship takes water
| accessdate = 1 August 2006
| date = 25 July 2006
| publisher = Seattle Post-Intelligencer
}}
4,703 (97.7%) of the vehicles on board were from Mazda; 60% were 2007 Mazda3
=Salvage effort=
A marine salvage team from Titan Salvage arrived on site on 30 July 2006. Led by Salvage Master Captain Rich Habib, the team was able to get aboard the vessel via a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter from the cutter {{USCGC|Morgenthau|WHEC-722|2}}. Later that day naval architect Marty Johnson slipped and fell to his death as the salvage team was preparing to leave the Cougar Ace and board the tugboat Emma Foss.{{cite web|url = http://www.seattlepi.com/local/279563_listingship01.html.
| title = Member of salvage team is killed in fall aboard listing ship
| accessdate = 1 August 2006
| last = Pemberton
| first = Mary
| date = 1 August 2006
| publisher = Seattle Post-Intelligencer
}} Johnson was a 40-year-old resident of Issaquah, Washington and employee of Crowley, the parent company of Titan Salvage.{{cite web|url=http://www.autoblog.com/2006/08/03/cougar-ace-salvage-operation-turns-deadly/|title=Cougar Ace salvage operation turns deadly|work=autoblog.com}}
Titan Salvage subsequently towed the vessel through Samalga Pass to the north side of the Aleutian Islands for protection from the weather using the tugboats Sea Victory, Gladiator and Emma Foss. It was then taken to Unalaska Island, where it was moored to Icicle Seafoods' mooring buoy. Cougar Ace was righted and redelivered to Mitsui Group on 16 August 2006, and on 25 August put under tow to Portland, Oregon for inspection and repair.
=Disposition of cargo=
Mazda officials reported minimal damage to the vehicles on board despite the ship listing for over a month.{{cite news |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071011104914/http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/8123260p-8015575c.html |url= http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/8123260p-8015575c.html |newspaper= Anchorage Daily News |title= Finally Upright, Cougar Ace will be Portland Bound |first= Lisa |last= Demer |date= 27 August 2006 |archivedate= 11 October 2007 }} However, according to the US Coast Guard, 41 vehicles broke loose and shifted.
On 11 September 2006, one day before the Cougar Ace arrived in Portland to begin unloading, Mazda USA announced that none of the Mazdas aboard would be sold as new vehicles.{{Cite web|url=http://media.ford.com/mazda/article_display.cfm?article_id=24253&make_id=227|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505095213/http://media.ford.com/mazda/article_display.cfm?article_id=24253&make_id=227|url-status=dead|title=NO MAZDA VEHICLES ON CAR-CARRYING VESSEL COUGAR ACE WILL BE SOLD AS NEW|archivedate=5 May 2008}} Mazda USA published a list of
VINs for the affected Mazda vehicles on their website.{{Citation needed|date=April 2018}}
On 15 December 2006, Mazda announced that all vehicles on the Cougar Ace would be scrapped.{{Cite web|url=http://media.ford.com/mazda/article_display.cfm?article_id=25049&make_id=227|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011194446/http://media.ford.com/mazda/article_display.cfm?article_id=25049&make_id=227|url-status=dead|title=ALL MAZDA VEHICLES FROM CAR-CARRYING VESSEL COUGAR ACE TO BE SCRAPPED|archivedate=11 October 2007}} After an extensive process to deploy all the airbags in each vehicle, all of the Mazda cars were crushed onsite at the Port of Portland by Pacific Car Crushing. The last Mazda car from the shipment was crushed on 6 May 2008.
Appearances in media
The Cougar Ace was covered extensively by the automotive press because of the sheer number of new cars that Mazda scrapped after the incident. She has a cameo of sorts in episode one, season three, of the television series Deadliest Catch. She is shown, temporarily anchored in Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian islands, awaiting further recovery.
Scrapping
In June 2020 MV Cougar Ace was sold for scrap. She was beached at Alang, India on 23 June 2020 and cut up thereafter. {{Cite web|title=scheepvaartwest - Cougar Ace - IMO 9051376|url=https://www.scheepvaartwest.be/CMS/index.php/car-carriers-ro-ro/132-cougar-ace-imo-9051376|access-date=18 December 2021|website=www.scheepvaartwest.be}}{{Cite journal|last=Des Bois|first=Robin|date=30 June 2020|title=Cougar Ace. IMO 9051375.|url=https://robindesbois.org/wp-content/uploads/shipbreaking60.pdf|journal=Shipbreaking: Bulletin of Information and Analysis|volume=60|pages=36–37}}
Gallery
File:CougarAceListing24july2006.ogg|Video
File:Cougar Ace from bow.jpg|The Cougar Ace listing on 14 August 2006 (over three weeks after the incident), view from the bow
File:CougarAceListing24july2006-1.jpg|View from above
File:Cougar Ace Listing Aft view and screw.jpg|The rudder and the propeller of MV Cougar Ace are lifted after her 60° list to her portside.
See also
- List of roll-on/roll-off vessel accidents
- {{MV|Golden Ray}}, a car carrier which capsized off Brunswick, Georgia in 2019.
- {{MV|Höegh Osaka}}, a car carrier which had a major list incident in 2015.
- {{MV|Reijin}}, a car carrier which capsized off Oporto in 1988.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons and category|Cougar Ace|Cougar Ace}}
- [http://www.bymnews.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=110 BYM News Photo Gallery] Album of pictures of Cougar Ace incident
- [http://www.ibiblio.org/maritime/photolibrary/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=293&pos=4 MaritimeDigital Archive Media Library page] on Cougar Ace
- [http://www.autoblog.com/2006/07/27/cargo-ship-cougar-ace-tips-over-4-700-mazdas-aboard/ Autoblog report on the Cougar Ace]
- [http://cargolaw.com/2006nightmare_cougar-ace.html Cargo Law updates on the Cougar Ace]
- [http://www.dec.state.ak.us/spar/perp/response/sum_fy07/060728201/060728201_index.htm US Coast Guard Unified Command]
- [http://www.bymnews.com/magazine/January2006.pdf BYM magazine Jan 2007]
- [https://www.wired.com/print/science/discoveries/magazine/16-03/ff_seacowboys High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas: The Race to Save the Cougar Ace -- Wired magazine Vol 16, issue 03, March 2008]
- [http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/features_classic_cars/cougar_ace_the_great_103_million_snafu_at_sea_feature+view-photos.html Car and Driver gallery]
{{Mitsui O.S.K. Lines|state=autocollapse}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cougar Ace}}
Category:Maritime incidents in 2006