It was the second tug raised of the two tugs that sank in Hoonah the evening of Dec. 8. Oil spill clean-up operations are completed. However, as a precautionary measure, both vessels will be encircled with containment boom while they are being repaired.
Initial indications are that the cause of the sinkings was mechanical.
A small pipe in the Rocona II s engine room broke, flooding the vessel, causing it to sink and pull the OB-1 down with it. Revised estimates indicate as much as 600 gallons of a mixture of diesel fuel and engine oil was spilled into the water. Much of this spillage was in the form of a sheen, however, the vessels owners, Whitestone Logging, were able to recover over 300 gallons. This unusually high recovery amount was due to proactive response efforts and cold temperatures. There were no wildlife impacts reported.