Alaska News

Coast Guard: No spill in grounding of tanker carrying fuel to Southwest Alaska villages

The Coast Guard is investigating the Friday grounding of a tanker supplying fuel to villages in Southwest Alaska, a Coast Guard spokesman said Saturday.

The Champion Ebony remains anchored off Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea, where it ran aground Friday morning while carrying 14.2 million gallons of petroleum products.

The crew was able to refloat the vessel and take it under its own power to deeper water, the Coast Guard said. The weather was calm and overcast with 3-foot seas.

None of the fuel oil or unleaded gasoline it was carrying appears to have spilled and the crew reported no interior breaches to the hull, according to Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Kelly Parker.

A diving company is doing an underwater survey of the 599-foot, double-hulled vessel looking for exterior damage.

The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the grounding. It also plans to survey the area for other environmental damage.

The Champion Ebony had last called at the port in Dutch Harbor. Kelly did not know which villages it was supplying with fuel. Nunivak's only population center is Mekoryuk on the north shore of the island.

The Norwegian-flagged vessel has a crew of 24. The Coast Guard has not decided when it will be cleared to resume its voyage.

Jeannette Lee Falsey

Jeannette Lee Falsey is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. She left the ADN in 2017.

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