2023 ATC Tanker Northern Lights

THIS IS A DRILL. 

Summary last updated: 12:00 P.M. Tuesday May 16 

Map courtesy of Google.

What happened?

At around 6:05 a.m. Tuesday, May 16, a collision occurred between the Marine Tanker Northern Lights and a container vessel near Naked Island in Prince William Sound.

The Northern Lights’ cargo tanks were damaged and caused a subsequent spill of crude oil to water. Naked Island is located about 40 miles from Valdez.

See stats dashboard below for current data.

The vessel had loaded approximately 54.5 million gallons of Alaska North Slope Crude from the terminal in Valdez. The two compromised tanks have a maximum capacity of 5.88 million gallons.

The Northern Lights is owned and operated by Alaska Tanker Company.

A Unified Command consisting of Alyeska, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, and U.S. Coast Guard has been established. Alyeska has activated all available oil response resources, and is cooperating with local, state and federal emergency responders.

The first priority of the response is the safety of all those involved.

The United States Coast Guard has established a one-mile safety zone in the spill area.

The Council is working to confirm additional details and will post more information as it becomes available.

Stats

THIS IS A DRILL

The following are reported by Incident Command and have not been independently verified by the Council. 

Last updated: 2:20 p.m. on 5/16 

  • Injuries reported: 0
  • Spilled: An estimated 80,000 barrels (3,360,000 gallons) have spilled to water so far.
  • Source of spill: Remains unsecured. Two of the Northern Lights’ crude oil tanks were breached. The tanker is still leaking at an estimated rate of 10,000 barrels (420,000 gallons) per hour.
  • Potential maximum estimated spill: It is estimated that the two tanks hold a total of roughly 140,000 barrels (5,880,000 gallons).
  • Recovered: None reported yet.
  • Wildlife affected: None reported yet.
  • Response personnel on -scene: 292
  • Equipment/vessels on-scene: OSRB 4 (oil spill response barge #4) and Tug Bainbridge.
  • Equipment mobilizing to scene: Additional OSRBs, additional tugs, nearshore response vessels and teams, Tier 1 and Tier 2 Fishing Vessels.