At 0214 hrs on 30 October 2009, the regional NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator was notified by USCG Sector New Orleans of a reported oil release from an outbound cargo ship off SW Pass, Louisiana. The vessel PAC ALKAID, a 500-foot bulk cargo ship, reported losing heavy fuel oil at 0030 hrs. The cause and amount of release is presently unknown. The suspected damaged tank contains 2,500 bbls of oil. While the release rate is unknown, it is believed to be relatively small at present. NOAA is providing direct support to the USCG related to weather and trajectory analyses.

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Note: Documents are posted chronologically and early reports likely contain factual errors. These errors may be corrected in a later report.