Alaska Beat

Bligh tug investigations begin

According to the Anchorage Daily News, the Coast Guard has started investigating the grounding of the Crowley Marine tug boat that ran aground on Bligh Reef recently, spilling uncounted thousands of gallons of diesel fuel. According to the reports, the tug was conducting a normal patrol to check for ice in the shipping lanes. Although the Coast Guard has a radar station dedicated to detecting ice in the area, it has been down for two months, and even when it's operating, visual double-checking of the results is common. So basically, the tug wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. The Coast Guard has started two parallel investigations, one to find out why the boat ran aground, and the other to check the traffic control system. Alaska's Coast Guard commander told the ADN, "I just want to make sure that our folks were doing what they were supposed to do, the way they were supposed to do it." Read much more here.

ADVERTISEMENT