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Abandoned Vessel; Florida Keys

Florida Keys | 1994-Nov-14

Initial Notification: Important note concerning the NOAA "HOTLINE" Communications System: Please note that this system is used for NOAA internal communications and the reports are put in chronologically. There is NO corrective "post editing" of the reports. As a result of this, early reports may have information that later proved to be incorrect. Sometimes these errors are corrected in a later report, but sometimes corrections are made over the phone or in-person, and no correcting message is entered. This reflects the use of this system as a real-time spill communications system and is not intended to be an event-log. Please keep this in mind when reading HOTLINE reports for this incident. If you have any problems with this system please contact the SSC on watch at 206-526-6317. The following information was received by NOAA HAZMAT Seattle. Initial Notification A vessel has been reported to be abandoned and adrift off the Florida Keys. The vessel is a 180 foot freighter with 35 foot beam. The vessel was reported at 1137 EST at position 24 degrees 30 minutes North, 080 degrees 32 minutes West. The crew has abandoned the vessel and it is taking on water. It reportedly has no cargo but has 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel on board. It is riding high in the water with 4 meters of freeboard. There is a 600 foot merchant vessel standing by on-scene reporting the vessel's position and status. Weather Winds at the scene are NE at 40-50 knots, with 20 foot seas. The drift is dominated by the wind. USCG district 8.

Incident Details
Products of concern:Diesel
Total amount at risk of spill: 3,000 gallons
Latitude (approximate): 24° 30.00′ North
Longitude (approximate): 80° 32.00′ West