M/V Ellen Knutsen; Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia, PA | 1993-Mar-31

Initial Notification: At 0003 March 31, 1993, the USCG MSO Philadelphia was notified by Tioga Marine Terminal of an acetone-like odor in the area. There were partly cloudy skies, winds east 5 to 10 knots, with a temperature of 60?F at the time of the incident. MSO personnel estimated that between 32,000 to 600,000 gallons of cumene had been released from the M/V Ellen Knutsen into the Delaware River. The 442-foot Ellen Knutsen was docked at the GATX terminal in Port Richmond, PA just south of the Betsy Ross Bridge on the Delaware River. The source of the release was a two-inch crack between the #5 starboard segregated ballast tank and the #10S cargo tank that permitted cargo to leak into the adjacent ballast tank. The ballast-cumene mixture discharged into the Delaware River during deballasting. The spill spread as far downstream as Camden, NJ and upstream to near the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. GATX personnel stopped transfer operations as soon as the spill was discovered. The total estimated release was 16,000 gallons. USCG district 5. Keyword: CDC, evaporation, Tri-State Bird Rescue Research Center.