No spill from grounded tugboat in Kingston

A tugboat that ran aground around 9 p.m. Thursday night in Kingston's Apple Tree Cove was refloated and escorted to Port Townsend for inspection, but lost power again at 9:45 a.m. today. The Coast Guard is bringing the 96-foot tug into Port Townsend, according to Coast Guard District 13 spokesman Nate Littlejohn.

The 90-year-old boat, named Delanco, was carrying 300 gallons of diesel fuel at the time, but no spill is reported, according to the Washington Department of Ecology. 250 gallons were stored in barrels on the deck. It was sailing from Seattle to Port Townsend for dry dock so the owner could work on repairs, according to the Coast Guard.

The Delanco's owner, Dennis Matheson, reported to the Coast Guard around 9 p.m. Thursday that his vessel had run aground when it "lost propulsion due to a compressor failure supporting the gear box," according to Littlejohn. The Coast Guard has not verified this was the cause. Littlejohn said it was a "soft aground," meaning the vessel wasn't damaged when it hit sediment rather than rocks, about two-tenths of a mile north from the Kingston/Edmonds Ferry terminal.

After being freed just before 8 a.m. today when the tide came in, the vessel was being escorted by the Coast Guard to Port Townsend. About 11 miles south of Admiralty Inlet near Hansville, the tug lost propulsion again at 9:45 a.m., and its Coast Guard escort towing the boat the rest of the way. It is currently in Port Townsend as the owner attempts to get it onshore.

 

 

Contact Kingston Community News Reporter Megan Stephenson at mstephenson@northkitsapherald.com or 360-779-4464.

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