Nikiski gasoline spill; Nikiski Upper Cook Inlet Ak

Nikiski Upper Cook Inlet Ak | 2009-May-27

Initial Notification: The Alaska SSC was notified early Wednesday morning that the 262 foot Barge SCT282 came into hard contact with the 113 foot Tug Pacific challenger, owned and operated by K-Sea Transportation. This collision cracked the #1 cargo tank causing an approximate 4-6 inch X 3/16 inch crack two to three feet above the water line and releasing unleaded gasoline into Cook Inlet, approximately 1 mile SSE of the KPL dock at Nikiski. The barge had a total of around 70,000 BBL of unleaded gas that it was delivering to several south-central ports. The crack is very close to the top of the tank and was seeping gasoline into the water. There no injuries to report. The vessels were expected to arrive in Homer on Wednesday night, May 27th, where actual measurements will determine the size of the spill.