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Crowley Tug Pathfinder

Bligh Reef, Prince William Sound, Alaska        2009-Dec-23

On the evening of December 23, 2009, the tanker escort tug Pathfinder ran aground on Bligh Reef, Prince William Sound, Alaska. The vessel has 127,000 gallons of diesel on board. The center bottom tank, containing 22,000 gallons, is ruptured and an unknown amount has spilled. Bligh Reef was the site of the 1989 grounding and spill of the tanker Exxon Valdez. USCG has requested scientific support including trajectory of the spilled fuel oil.


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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.

Incident Details

Spill, potential spill, or other: Oil Spill
Cause of incident: Grounding
Products of concern: diesel
Amount spilled (approximate): 6410 gallons
Total amount at risk of spill: 43,108 gallons

Latitude (approximate): 60° 50.30' North
Longitude (approximate): 146° 52.92' West

Public Information Contacts and Incident-Related Links

  • 17th District USCG site, look at recent updates on the right hand side
  • Alaska State DEC site, good summaries and photos can be found here

    • These sites are provided for additional information, while these links work during spill response times, they may not be active months or years after the incident. For the CG District 17 website, if you do a search on the spill name (Pathfinder) you may be able to find press releases well after the incident is closed.

    NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) provides science-based solutions to protect and restore the nation’s natural resources from coastal environmental hazards. OR&R serves the nation by providing expertise and a suite of products and services critical for making science-based response decisions that prevent further harm, restore natural resources, and promote effective planning for future incidents.