T/V R. HAL DEAN; Bayou Cassotte, Pascagoula, Mississippi

Bayou Cassotte, Pascagoula, Mississippi | 1989-Jul-14

Initial Notification: At 1840 on July 14, 1989, the Chevron tanker R. HAL DEAN, loaded with 395,000 barrels of Mayan crude, ran hard aground while moving into the Bayou Cassotte and Pascagoula Ship Channel near buoy #14. Although the vessel was grounded in soft sediments approximately eight nautical miles south-southeast of Pascagoula, Mississippi, and was reportedly not leaking, there was concern because she is a single-hulled vessel and was in an area studded with abandoned buoy anchors and other debris. Chevron's plans, approved by the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office (MSO), Mobile, called for lightering and then refloating the R. HAL DEAN using the vessel's engines and tug boats as needed. USCG district 8.