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Countermeasures/ Mitigation

The G & H Towing Company tugs The Judge, Carol Hayden, and R.C. Hayden  fought
the fire under the direction of the Commanding Officer of the USCGC Valiant 
until Smit International, Inc. personnel arrived. The G & H tugs were not manned
by trained firefighters, and they had a tendency to leave effective fire
fighting positions when explosions occurred aboard the tanker.  The G & H tugs
continued under the direction of Smit International, Inc. personnel until better
vessels were procured.

On November 2, the GST arrived with 612 feet of Open Water Oil Containment and
Recovery System (OWOCRS) and two Air-Deliverable Anti-Pollution Transfer Systems
(ADAPTS).  Western Marine provided boats for the deployment of the GST's
equipment. The shipping lanes into Galveston were closed in both directions for
a short time on the first day of the incident, and again on November 5 while the
Mimosa was towed to Galveston. Subsequently, the outgoing lanes were opened.\GST
personnel worked through the night and into the morning of November 3 to deploy
a boom astern of the tanker.  In the early evening of November 3, nine
firefighters from the Netherlands arrived with additional equipment.  Various
problems occurred during the evening of November 3; kinks in the boom, no boom
lights, and a boom line fouled the prop of a deployment vessel.  The Dutch tug
Jacob Van Heemskerk was on-scene in the morning of November 4, and began
applying water to the Burmah Agate. 

In the early morning of November 5, more explosions aboard the Burmah Agate 
opened several starboard and center tanks.  The On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) and
acting Captain of the Port (COTP) contacted the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage
(NAVSUPSALV) to bring in booms and skimmers with personnel to operate them.

On November 7, the Linda Partain arrived on-scene to fight fires along with the
Jacob Van Heemskerk and the Seaspan Raider.  Goodyear boom was deployed astern
of the Burmah Agate.  On November 8, only the Linda Partain remained alongside
the tanker, applying water to the forward tanks to cool them.  The other two
tugs had moved away due to explosions.  Vessels continued to deploy the Goodyear
boom near the Burmah Agate.  On November 10, 2,000 feet of Goodyear boom was
deployed north of the Burmah Agate to protect the Galveston Channel and Bolivar
Peninsula.  Booming of the San Luis Pass area was completed with the deployment
of 4,000 feet of boom.  Oil entrainment was discovered under the booms astern of
the tanker.

On November 11, a Marco Class V skimmer was deployed to back up the boom under
which oil had entrained.  The boom to the north of the tanker was damaged by a
response vessel during the night of November 11, and was replaced.  It was
damaged again on November 12, and on November 16.  Another portside tank
exploded, and burning oil hit the booms and set them on fire.  A Lockheed
skimmer Open Water Oil Recovery System (OWORS) was deployed but one of its
flotations was punctured, and was removed for repairs.  On November 13, two
OWOCRS were deployed.  The boom caught fire again on November 14.\\On November
17, the Bering Sea, with two Marco skimmers attached to outriggers, and the
Midnight Flash, with the Lockheed skimmer attached to an outrigger, came on
scene and began skimming operations.

By November 21, there were 400 people cleaning the beaches.  Beach cleanup was
done by manual removal of oiled sand, which was loaded into dump trucks by
front-end loaders.  Loaders removed too much sand from the beaches and they were
replaced with vacuum trucks.  Cleanup of beaches was complete by November 27.

On January 8, the fire was put out, and deployment of 4000 feet of Goodyear boom
and OWOCRS began in anticipation of lightering efforts.  There was a delay in
offloading operations because the owners of the Burmah Agate were slow to award
a contract.  The lightering began on January 17 and continued until February 3.
 Approximately 160,000 barrels of crude oil were recovered by lightering operations.