Eight years ago this month, the Selendang Ayu, a freighter from Malaysia broke in half while travelling the Alaska Archipelago.
Three-hundred and fifty thousand gallons of oil leaked from the ship, causing extensive environmental damage.
Now, several environmental and shipping groups are calling for measures to be taken so such a disaster never occurs again, reports the LA Times this week.
The coaltion is suggesting having emergency tugboats along the Alaskan Archipelago in order to react quickly should such and incident ever happen again.
In a blog post on December 8, 2012 on the Ocean Foundation website, Richard Steiner, a professor and conservation biologist describes Arctic shipping as "a disaster waiting to happen."
Between 10 and 20 freighters travel every day near Alaska's 1,200-mile Aleutian Chain to go between Asia and North America, he writes.
Read more in the LA Times.
Read more on Arctic shipping or read Steiner's "Arctic Shipping is a Disaster Waiting to Happen."
This article is posted on Alaska Dispatch as part of Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organizations.