RIO VISTA — The U.S. Coast Guard is monitoring the salvage of a World War II-era landing craft that sank in the Sacramento River Tuesday and appeared to have spilled some fuel into the water.
The four people on board were rescued without any injuries Tuesday morning when the 70-foot-long landing craft sank while carrying a water truck aboard, the Coast Guard reported Wednesday. The landing craft had a four-inch gash in its side.
The landing craft owner hired contractors to assess and contain pollution by applying a boom around the water surface near the vessel, officials said.
The landing craft was thought to carry 175 gallons of diesel, and the water truck had an estimated 100-gallon diesel tank.
A light sheen on the river water near the sunken vessel was spotted Wednesday morning by a Coast Guard helicopter crew.
Crews with the Coast Guard and California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response checked the water and shoreline and observed no signs of damage to wildlife.
The vessel owner plans to continue working with Parker Diving and Salvage to develop a plan to remove the landing craft and the water truck at a later date, the Coast Guard said.
The sunken landing craft was moored to a dock to prevent it from moving into the path of other boats.
