M/V Navios Pioneer; Port Royal Sound, South Carolina

Port Royal Sound, South Carolina | 1999-Jul-21

Initial Notification: At approximately 0400 hours July 21, 1999, the M/V Navios Pioneer ran aground on a mud bank near the entrance to Port Royal Sound, South Carolina. The vessel was inbound and ran hard aground between buoys 4 and 5. The 590-foot long vessel was carrying a cargo of crushed granite. The M/V Navios Pioneer was drawing 27 feet and soundings indicated 27 feet of water at the site. The vessel contained 60 metric tons of #2 fuel oil, 532 metric tons of IFO 180, and 25 metric tons of gas oil. At 1427 hours July 21the M/V Navios Pioneer floated off the bank under her own power. She was inspected at her anchorage and no damage to her bottom plating was noted. The NOAA trajectory analysis suggested that the winds were 10-15 knots from the WSW and would becoming more westerly as the afternoon progressed. The forecast was for more westerly wind 5-10 knots through Thursday. Based on these winds and that the ship was 7 miles offshore, NOAA did not anticipate the tidal currents to be strong enough to pull any spilled oil into Port Royal Sound. NOAA also suggested that any oil spill over the initial 24 hours of the grounding would move offshore and to the east of east southeast. If significant amounts of the IFO 180 that was on board the vessel would have been lost, NOAA suggested that it could persists for a week or two and result in tarball impacts to the beaches 10's of miles from the grounding site depending on the wind conditions at the time. USCG district 5. Keyword: none.