Crowley provide all year round Emergency Response Tug

Nearly 9,000 tankers and cargo ships pass through the Strait each year. Adjacent to the shipping route are the beaches in the Olympic National Park, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, three national wildlife refuges and tribal lands, all of which are directly at risk from major oil spills.

Although Emergency Towing Vessels (ETVs) are now commonplace in Europe and elsewhere in the world, the North American states have been slow to adopt full all year round, 24 hour services. Since 1999, state funded response tugs stationed at Neah Bay have kept disabled

ships from drifting onto the rocks and causing major oil spills during the severe winter months. Those tugs have stood by and assisted over 40 ships that became disabled or had reduced steering or propulsion problems during harsh winter storms.

In April, the Department of Ecology and Crowley agreed to extend the company’s existing contract to station a high horsepower, ocean going tug at Neah Bay for a year. Crowley’s powerful Invader class tug ‘Gladiator’, with 7,200 horsepower and a 75 ton bollard pull, will be stationed at the Neah Bay Marina, where the infrastructure and access to shore based electrical power supplies will be improved.

Scott Hoggarth, general manager of marine services for Crowley in Seattle, commented, ‘This is a significant day for Crowley and the State as we embark on a year round mission to protect our coastal and inland waters, and shorelines.

‘This proactive measure by the Washington Department of Ecology reduces the possibility of an environmental accident, thereby providing peace of mind to coastal communities. We are pleased to be a part of this environmentally responsible measure.’