BETHEL -- The U.S. Coast Guard is monitoring a Crowley fuel barge that grounded Wednesday in the Kongiganak River near Bethel, but the double-hulled vessel -- like others in Western Alaska -- is built to beach, a Crowley official said Friday.
"They make deliveries into hundreds of locations across Western Alaska that have absolutely no port infrastructure," said Sean Thomas, Crowley vice president for Western Alaska. "So the only way to get into most of these locations is to actually ground the barge. They are specially designed and specially built to do just that."
The barge had already delivered most of its fuel and was headed to the village of Kongiganak for a last stop before going on to Bethel, he said. The fuel onboard was loaded onto another boat to help it refloat, he said. But so far none of the high tides have been high enough when combined with big winds pushing out water, Thomas said.
The barge grounded with 50,000 gallons of jet fuel, 17,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 1,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline aboard while being pushed by the tug Nanchik, according to the Coast Guard. An examination found no damage to the tanks or hull, the Coast Guard said. No pollution was reported.
The barge could hold 300,000 gallons, according to Crowley.
On Friday afternoon, it remained stuck on a sandbar as the response team waited for the right high tide to lift it naturally, Thomas said. That should happen sometime Saturday, he said.
In pictures from the scene provided by the Coast Guard, the barge appears to be outside the main river channel. Thomas said the river changes daily. A skiff usually travels ahead of fuel barges to sound the river, but he said he wasn't sure if that occurred with the stuck vessel.
"There are very strong tidal fluctuations," he said. "It moves around constantly."
That's why the fuel supplier uses shallow-draft, double-hulled barges, he said.
When it is refloated, it will head to Bethel to fuel up at the Crowley tank farm, he said.
Crowley's director of marine operations met with the Coast Guard command in Anchorage to explain how the company operates. Two Coast Guard personnel went out in a skiff to check the grounded barge, Thomas said.
The first fuel barge of the year arrived in Bethel about a week ago.
Crowley reset its fuel prices Friday, Thomas said. The new price of unleaded gasoline is $5.99 per gallon, which reflects the lower supply cost compared to last year, he said.
The company set the price last fall at $6.70 a gallon but that was lowered during various sales.