Speranza Marie breaks from anchorage and runs aground again on Santa Cruz Island

SANTA CRUZ ISLAND, Calif – A 60 foot squid vessel anchored for salvage in Chinese Harbor encountered significant swells causing the Speranza Marie to separate from her anchorage and drift aground again 100 yards west of the original incident.

Click here to read our station's coverage of when the commercial fishing vessel originally ran aground on Santa Cruz Island on Dec. 15.

Salvage efforts commenced to remove the around 1000 gallons of diesel fuel, an unknown amount of hydraulic fluid and 16,000 pounds of squid onboard according to later reporting from our newsroom.

Federal, state, county, and private organizations began salvage efforts including creating a 4000-yard safety zone as we reported less than a week after the grounding.

Those reported plans to prevent additional environmental impact were dashed alongside the now re-stranded Speranza Marie as drone imagery and helicopter-based observations confirmed significant damage and minor sheening surrounding the ship.

The same swells that pulled the vessel from its anchorage also prevent safe access to the site for the Unified Command managing the salvage efforts.

Updates to the situation will be reported as they come in.