by Ronna Sweeney, KUAM NewsWednesday, February 27, 2008 Subscribe to Ronna's newsfeed
After looking into the reportedly-toxic ship formerly known as the S.S. Independence coming into Guam, U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Marcus Hirschberg says it will be a few weeks before the ship, since renamed "The Oceanic", is expected to approach our island. Hirschberg says at this point it does not look like the vessel will be coming into Apra Harbor.The vessel towing The Oceanic, the Pacific Hickory may come in for refueling. In that case, another tugboat would hold onto the oceanic 12 miles offshore. The lieutenant also told KUAM News, "The reason attention is being drawn to The Oceanic is not that it poses a risk to health and safety. Rather, the USEPA has identified a possible export violation. If there are PCBs on board due to the ship's age, then there are restrictions on export to foreign countries."