Crowley Barge 160-1; Quinhagak, Alaska

Quinhagak, Alaska | 2009-Sep-17

Initial Notification: Crowley Barge 160-1 ran aground near Quinhagak, AK, just south of the mouth of the Kuskokwim River on Sept. 16, 2009, as the result of navigation error during a normal fuel delivery to the village of Quinhagak. The barge has 72,000 gallons of gasoline and 72,000 gallons of Jet fuel. The barge is a 1968 single skin barge. The grounded barge had gone through two tidal cycles, during which the tug could not pull it off the bottom, prior to notifying CG Sector Anchorage on Sept. 17. No fuel has been released into the the environment. The CG requested that the NOAA SSC provide weather and tidal information. Shortly after the grounding a second barge, the OB-5, was summoned from Bethel 80 miles to the north. Barge OB-5 was able to liter 60,000 gallons of Jet fuel from barge 160-1 and delivered 55,000 gallons to tanks at Quinhagak. Upon returning to 160-1, barge OB-5 itself grounded just west of the location of the 160-1. When OB-5 refloated on a subsequent high tide, it was directed to stand by offshore as it had too much draft to conduct further work in the mouth of the Kanektok River. Crowley summoned another barge from Nome to complete the litering of the still grounded 160-1. The combination of a spring tide and a strong westerly wind produced enough water under the barge to refloat it spontaneously very early on Sept. 22. The barge was towed to the Quinhagak tank farm where it transferred all its remaining cargo with the exception of 5000 gallons of jet fuel. It subsequently was directed to Bethel where it will be inspected by the Coast Guard. Thus bringing an end to the incident.