Corroding wrecks of World War II ships

[Pressurehead]

Found this story today, ABC Australia.
Worth a read.

These rusting shipwrecks are a big drawcard for divers. They're also ticking time bombs

An untold amount of black, toxic oil is contained within the corroding wrecks of World War II ships scattered around the Pacific. And it's leaking into the ocean.

www.abc.net.au

 

[PfcAJ]

This is real. I visited a ww2 wreck off of Florida that capsized post-torpedo strike. The hold is FULL of oil. Just a matter of time.

 

[nadwidny]

Found this story today, ABC Australia.
Worth a read.

These rusting shipwrecks are a big drawcard for divers. They're also ticking time bombs

An untold amount of black, toxic oil is contained within the corroding wrecks of World War II ships scattered around the Pacific. And it's leaking into the ocean.

www.abc.net.au

Canada's west coast problem- USAT Brigadier General M. G. Zalinski - Wikipedia

We dove it in 2008, '10 and '12 (if my memory is correct) and I had video of oil seeping from missing rivets. The Canadian gov't did a cleanup in 2013. Whether or not it was a success, who knows? I would sure like to get back up there and check it out again.

Just imagine how much oil is coming up, or about to come up, in the Atlantic from all those ships there from WW2.

 

[broncobowsher]

Every time I have been in Truk there has been at least one ship bleeding some oil. And those were on fumes when they sunk.

To counter that, oil in the ocean is actually natural. WHAT? It isn't completely a man made thing. In the gulf of Mexico oil naturally washed up on shore well before we ever started drilling for it. The fact oil was floating up offshore is part of the inspiration to try offshore oil drilling. Nature can handle some oil. And given time it can actually handle a lot of it. The old war ships didn't hold that much oil. The numbers may sound large if you are thinking of what your car can hold, but given the scale of the ocean it is nothing.

 

[rjack321]

Every time I have been in Truk there has been at least one ship bleeding some oil. And those were on fumes when they sunk.

To counter that, oil in the ocean is actually natural. WHAT? It isn't completely a man made thing. In the gulf of Mexico oil naturally washed up on shore well before we ever started drilling for it. The fact oil was floating up offshore is part of the inspiration to try offshore oil drilling. Nature can handle some oil. And given time it can actually handle a lot of it. The old war ships didn't hold that much oil. The numbers may sound large if you are thinking of what your car can hold, but given the scale of the ocean it is nothing.

Clearly you weren't around when the Exxon Valdez ran aground (1989). There is still oil in/on the beaches and the herring harvest has been crap for 35 years. The impacts of Deep Water Horizon's blowout (2010) are also still measurable today in marine life. The effects may not be obvious, but they are far beyond 'natural'

 

[clownfishsydney]

Clearly you weren't around when the Exxon Valdez ran aground (1989). There is still oil in/on the beaches and the herring harvest has been crap for 35 years. The impacts of Deep Water Horizon's blowout (2010) are also still measurable today in marine life. The effects may not be obvious, but they are far beyond 'natural'

The WWII wrecks have hardly any oil in them at all. The tankers that I have dived on are all empty (well, close enough) and the other oil powered ships have only a percentage of their possible fuel load. Some, like the ones in Chuuk, have very little as Japan was already in trouble and they did not refuel ships until they were leaving. The ones in the Solomons will have more, but probably less than 50% at the most.

In any case, when these ships do leak oil (and some already are), the oil will come out in small amounts over many, many years. Unless there is a catastrophic event, the oil will come out in a sort of controlled way. In any case, unlike the Exxon Valdez, these ships have light oil (think diesel) rather than crude oil like the Valdez. The light oil evaporates after a short time on the surface, I have seen this happen in Chuuk.

In most cases in the Solomons, the wrecks that really have a lot of fuel are so deep it would be impossible to do anything anyway. This particularly applies to HMAS Canberra, USS Quincy, USS Astoria and USS Vincennes which are in water thousands of metres deep.

 

[broncobowsher]

Clearly you weren't around when the Exxon Valdez ran aground (1989). There is still oil in/on the beaches and the herring harvest has been crap for 35 years. The impacts of Deep Water Horizon's blowout (2010) are also still measurable today in marine life. The effects may not be obvious, but they are far beyond 'natural'

I was around for both of those. The scale and location are completely different. A co-worker's husband worked for the state of Mississippi (fish and game, or some other agency that dealt with ocean stuff) and they were making fun of all the news. The oil on the beach that made national news, wasn't even from the deepwater incident most of the time. It was the natural oil blobs that exist down there. As for Exxon, that was a massive spill in a small area.

You are hyper focused on 2 extraordinary events that are several magnitudes more severe.

 

[Eric802]

I believe the Coast Guard oversaw the removal of oil from WWII torpedo victim in the Gulf of Mexico within the last few years. There's a .pdf online of an assessment that was done on the environmental risks associated with various WWII wrecks in the Gulf and Florida waters.

 

[bakodiver391]

The wrecks at Bikini Atoll have been bleeding RFO or "bunker" fuel since they sank. Strangely, I have never seen oil on the beaches, and i've been to all of them repeatedly. I guess RFO is light enough to evaporate in tropical temperatures.

 

[Jonn]

Crude oil will decay in a year or so if exposed to air and sunlight. It’s actually legal to land-spread it! If it’s hiding under a rock or something, or if there’s enough of it to make a thick layer, it lasts forever. Processed lubricants and stuff are a whole different thing. Not surprised the ecology around Tuck is able to keep up with a slow drip over many decades, an issue worth monitoring but probably not worth worrying.