Tug Pathfinder Grounding

Location: The grounding occurred on Bligh Reef, Prince William Sound, Alaska (60° 50.39’ N, 146° 52.94’ W).
Time/Date of Incident: The grounding of the tug Pathfinder was reported to the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) Vessel Traffic System in Prince William Sound at 6:15 PM on December 23, 2009. The USCG reported the grounding to ADEC at 7:52 PM on December 23, 2009.
Spill Number: 09229935701
Product/Quantity: The amount spilled is currently unknown. The vessel had approximately 123,000 gallons of diesel fuel on board at the time of the grounding. Three of the tug’s diesel tanks were breached: one on the port side (1P) and two on the centerline (2C and 3C). Tank 1P did not contain any fuel, and Tanks 2C and 3C contained 10,000 and 23,540 gallons of diesel fuel, respectively, at the time of grounding.
Cause: The 136-foot tug had completed an ice survey and was headed back to port at the time of the grounding. The grounding caused extensive damage to the hull, including tearing a 4- to 5-foot hole at the keel. The cause of the grounding is unknown at this time and is being investigated by the USCG and ADEC.

01/04/2010 03:00 PM (Final) (PDF 193K)
12/30/2009 03:00 PM (PDF 69K)
12/27/2009 03:00 PM (PDF 145K)
12/26/2009 03:00 PM (PDF 156K)
12/25/2009 03:00 PM (PDF 37K)
12/24/2009 03:00 PM (PDF 645K) - (NOTE: Correction to Tug Pathfinder Grounding Sitrep 2 – The first photo on the third page indicated that the vessel near the tug Pathfinder was the USCG Cutter Long Island. That information was incorrect. The vessel that can be seen on the photo is the response tug Alert.)
12/24/2009 10:00 AM (PDF 1.4 MB)

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Division of Spill Prevention and Response Prevention Preparedness and Response