M/V Stellamare; Albany, NY

Albany, NY | 2003-Dec-09

Initial Notification: On 9 December 2003 the cargo ship Stellamare listed and partially sank at the Port of Albany, pitching several men into the icy waters of the Hudson River. The 289-foot Stellamare, a heavy lift ship from Willemstad, Curacao, in the Netherlands Antilles was loading two General Electric turbines when it leaned to port side and overturned. The Coast Guard sent a 49-foot boat from Saugerties, NY to the port to assess the situation. Also, a team of Coast Guard investigators left Staten Island, NY by car for the port. The following morning the owners had the vessel boomed in and skimmers removing oil contained with the boom. Overflights were able to identify oil sheen covering about seven miles of the river downstream from the ship. The USCG Activities New York oversaw the spill response and recovery operations, which lasted about three days. The vessel and turbine salvages are still pending. At the time of the initial incident it was reported that the river was about 80% covered with ice. As the water warmed up in the daytime the percent of ice diminished greatly.