---

The Crowley Marine Services tugboat Pathfinder was moored at Port of Valdez early Sunday morning after being safely towed from Busby Island in Prince William Sound, Alaska, following an earlier grounding on Bligh Reef on Wednesday evening.

Crews will begin to remove fuel from the vessel over the weekend. A limited amount of diesel fuel will remain on board in order to power ship systems while the vessel’s damage is more fully assessed, the US Coast Guard said.

The results of the yesterday’s observation flight did not indicate any sign of fuel spilled during the vessel’s transit to Valdez. Crews are decontaminating boom and recovered fuel storage tanks so they can be returned to standby service in local oil spill response inventories.

The Unified Command is maintaining oversight of the operations as crews shift from recovery of the Pathfinder, to equipment clean up and the damage assessment of the tug.

“Crowley remains focused on removing the diesel fuel remaining on the vessel,” said Jim Butler, Crowley information officer.

“Once the fuel has been removed, Crowley will conduct a detailed damage assessment of the vessel.”

“Response crews worked long hours during some of the shortest days of the year,” said Steve Russell, environmental specialist with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. “Crews conducted their work with the highest priority on safety and environmental protection.”

The Pathfinder grounding took place on Wednesday evening after the crew had completed an ice survey and were heading back to its port in Valdez when the vessel struck the reef. Vessel Traffic System Prince William Sound personnel received a radio call at 6:15 p.m. from Pathfinder’s master via VHF radio reporting the grounding.

The Pathfinder cleared the reef and proceeded to deeper waters at about 6:50 p.m. Anchoring just south of Busby Island, the tug’s six crewmembers reportedly deployed 200-feet of fuel containment booms around the vessel.

Two of the tug’s centerline diesel fuel tanks were reported breached with a potential spill of 33,500 gallons. The total capacity of the vessel is approximately 127,700 gallons of diesel fuel.

The incident is under investigation by the Coast Guard. Crowley was said to be cooperating fully with the investigation while decontaminating the vessels and equipment used and demobilizing resources. Results will be available upon completion of the investigation.