Offshore staff
(Alaska)- An oil tanker ran aground Thursday after an ice floe broke it from its moorings at a refinery in Nikiski, Alaska, 80 mi southwest of Anchorage on the Cook Inlet.
The 574-ft longSeabulk Pride tanker was being loaded with unleaded gasoline at a Tesoro refinery when the floe struck the ship. A few gallons of oil spilled into the Cook Inlet and the ship appeared intact, according to Coast Guard officials.
It was not immediately clear if the spill came from the refinery's fuel lines when the ship broke free or if the ship itself was damaged.
Petty Officer Steve Harrison with the Coast Guard's command center in Juneau said "the tanker is aground on silt" and not on rocks, which could have caused more damage.
TheSeabulk Pride has a capacity of 342,000 bbl of petroleum product. The vessel, built in 1998, is a double-hulled tanker, which is a design element to help protect cargo and which became standard issue after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 in Prince William Sound.
No injuries were reported.
02/03/2006
