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Oil barge freed from cove, towed to Astoria

In a photo supplied by the U.S. Coast Guard, members of the incident command observe the salvage of the grounded barge Millicoma near Ilwaco, Wash., on Wednesday. The barge was freed, and its 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of diesel will be offloaded. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
In a photo supplied by the U.S. Coast Guard, members of the incident command observe the salvage of the grounded barge Millicoma near Ilwaco, Wash., on Wednesday. The barge was freed, and its 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of diesel will be offloaded. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

ILWACO, Wash. – With the help of high tide, a heavy-duty salvage vessel and three tugboats, an oil barge was floated free Wednesday from the narrow, rocky cove near the mouth of the Columbia River where it ran aground last weekend.

“She’s been freed from the cove,” said Sam Sacco of Foss Maritime, which had a tug on the scene and owns the vessel that lost the barge in rough weather Saturday night.

There was no sign of any fuel leakage when the salvage vessel Salvage Chief pulled the barge off the rocks, Sacco said.

By 9 p.m. Wednesday, the 350- by 75-foot barge Millicoma had crossed the legendarily treacherous Columbia River bar, escorted by the tug Sause Navajo, and reached port at Astoria, Ore., Sacco said.

There, the plan was to encircle the barge with oil containment booms and offload the 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of diesel in the barge’s double-hulled fuel tank, he said. The Millicoma also will undergo an initial damage assessment by the Coast Guard and owner Sause Brothers Ocean Towing of Coos Bay, Ore. Whatever immediate repairs are required will be made in Astoria before the barge is hauled to drydock in Portland.

“The good news is: Mission accomplished!” Sacco said Wednesday night.

The cargo holds of the 2.6 million-gallon barge were empty when it ran aground Saturday.

Before the refloat, air blowers blasting high-pressure air helped create buoyant “bubbles” in empty fuel tanks damaged when the barge went aground and throughout the vessel, Sacco said. Five of the 15 tanks were damaged, said spokeswoman Sandy Howard with the state Department of Ecology.

Two environmental cleanup companies, National Response Corp. and Marine Spill Response Corp., were on scene in case of a spill, along with environmental officials from Washington and Oregon.

The area where the barge grounded is rich with wildlife, razor clam beds, waterfowl areas and historic landmarks.

The Millicoma was being towed in tandem with the barge Sitka when its towing cable snapped as the tug Howard Olsen tried to move them across the river bar in rough weather.

Both barges were empty and headed for drydock, Sacco said. The Sitka was brought safely to Portland.

The Millicoma drifted 3.5 miles and came to rest in a narrow cove near the North Head Lighthouse, at the base of rocky bluffs on the Washington side of the Columbia’s mouth.

Activists questioned why the Howard Olsen was towing two barges in dangerous waters and conditions.

“It’s legal, but why is it legal is the question,” said Fred Felleman of Ocean Advocates in Seattle, noting that a tug cannot reconnect with a loose barge if it’s towing a second vessel. He called for a second escort tug under such conditions.

Those and other questions will be addressed by a Coast Guard investigation, a Coast Guard spokesman said.