Rescuers press search for six off Alaska; officials assess loss of fuel from freighter

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Frustrated by fierce winds, mountainous seas, and a mere five-hour window of December daylight, rescuers searched yesterday for six people lost in the Bering Sea after the Coast Guard helicopter that had plucked them from a crippled freighter crashed in the darkness.

The ship they left behind ran aground and split apart, and environmental officials feared that the vessel might start leaking massive amounts of fuel.

Searchers hoped the missing crew had somehow lived through the night, but 43-degree waters reduced survival estimates to about three hours. Rescuers were hampered by seas that swelled to 20 feet and wind that howled at 35 miles per hour.

''Those high winds make flying difficult and is going to make for choppy seas," Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Roger Wetherell said. ''If somebody is out there riding a wave, you may not see them."

Searchers reported improving visibility, but limited daylight forced them to wait until after sunrise at 10 a.m. to resume rescue flights.

The rescue helicopter crashed into the sea Wednesday carrying 10 people -- seven crew members and three Coast Guard personnel. Four were rescued by a second helicopter and in good condition yesterday. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

The freighter's captain and a rescue swimmer who had remained on the vessel were also rescued shortly before the ship broke up. Eighteen other crew members were previously evacuated from the freighter.

Rear Admiral James Olson said he did not know whether the missing crew members were wearing survival gear. The Coast Guard declined to release their names, saying their families had not been notified.

Meanwhile, Coast Guard and conservation officials reported finding oil in the water and braced for a spill of hundreds of thousand of gallons of heavy fuel that may have drained from the 738-foot freighter Selendang Ayu. The ship disintegrated off the coast of Unalaska Island, about 800 miles southwest of Anchorage in a region that is home to sea lions, northern fur seals, and a variety of birds and other sealife.

Coast Guard officials were still trying to determine how much of the 440,000 gallons of its own fuel in the ship may have spilled. The ship was carrying a load of grain.

A Coast Guard team specializing in oil spills was en route from California, and oil-containment booms and equipment were being transferred to the scene, Wetherell said.

The Coast Guard had been struggling to help the 40,000-ton freighter since Tuesday when it began drifting after its main engine failed, but bad weather hindered their efforts.

The freighter, carrying a Filipino and Indian crew, was registered under a Malaysian flag and owned by Singapore-based IMC Group.

A tug boat had attached a line to the freighter on Tuesday evening, securing it for 12 hours. But then the line broke and the vessel resumed its path to the Unalaska Island shore.

The crew dropped anchor when it reached shallow water, but it was lost in the rough seas after just a half hour.

The crew later dropped its other anchor, which for a while held the freighter nearly a mile from shore, Olson said.

But sometime around 6 p.m. Wednesday, the captain of the freighter requested the remaining crew members be evacuated from the vessel, as the anchor had begun to give way and the freighter had started to flood.

The helicopter crashed into the sea soon after picking up crew members. Around 7:15 p.m., the freighter broke in half.