Multimedia/Images/Oil Spills and Ship Groundings

Oil Spills and Ship Groundings

Each year, OR&R scientists and staff use their technical expertise to respond to 150-200 incidents in U.S. coastal waters, the majority of which are oil spills and vessel collisions or groundings. However, other incidents can result from hurricanes or drilling well blowouts, as in the case of the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill. Explore this sampling of photos from OR&R response efforts.

M/V Kent Reliant grounded on a reef.

Displaced boat after Hurricane Katrina.

Tug boats assist in the response to Bouchard Barge No. 120.

R/R Cougar Ace near Alaska

The M/V Selendang Ayu broke apart near Unalaska Island, AK.

Well blowout resulting in an oil spill in Lake Perot.

The M/V New Carissa broke in two after running aground.

Barge Millicoma on the shore of the Columbia River.

M/V Kuroshima aground after dragging anchor.

M/T Igloo Moon aground near Biscayne National Park, FL.

The Exxon Valdez aground; tug assisting in response.

Deepwater Horizon platform in flames.

Tugs respond to the submerged Barge DM932.

US Coast Guard skiff examines damaged side of M/V Cosco Busan.

M/V Cape Flattery grounded.

M/T Athos listing after running aground.

Booms contain oil in Adak Bay after a spill.

M/V Kent Reliant grounded on a reef.

M/V Kent Reliant

On September 18, 2003, M/V Kent Reliant grounded at the entrance to San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico.

photo: NOAA

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Displaced boat after Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina

A boat, displaced and damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in late August/early September of 2005 in the U.S Gulf of Mexico region.

photo: NOAA

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Tug boats assist in the response to Bouchard Barge No. 120.

Bouchard Barge No. 120

On April 27, 2003, Bouchard Barge No. 120 grounded at the entrance to Buzzard Bay in southern Massachusetts. The barge discharged approximately 2,333 barrels (98,000 gallons) of heavy number 6 fuel.

photo: NOAA

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R/R Cougar Ace near Alaska

R/R Cougar Ace

The "Cougar Ace", a 654-foot container ship transporting over 4,800 automobiles from Japan to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, began to take on water for an unknown reason late on July 26, 2006, about 245 nautical miles southwest of Atka, Alaska, and started to list to its port side.

photo: NOAA

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The M/V Selendang Ayu broke apart near Unalaska Island, AK.

M/V Selendang Ayu

During early December of 2004, a huge storm drove the floundering M/V Selendang Ayu onto the rocky shoals on the west side of Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Here, the vessel broke in two, releasing more than 75 percent (337,000 gallons) of its total petroleum fuel load of IFO-380 and marine diesel. Nearly all the oil was driven onto the mostly rocky shorelines of Makushin and Skan Bays.

photo: USCG

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Well blowout resulting in an oil spill in Lake Perot.

Lake Perot Well Blowout

On January 21, 2007, a well head blowout occurred in Lake Perot, La.

photo: NOAA

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The M/V New Carissa broke in two after running aground.

M/V New Carissa

On February 4, 1999, the M/V New Carissa, a 639-foot bulk freight ship of Panamanian registry, went hard aground in heavy seas about 150 yards off a stretch of remote, undeveloped sandy beach three miles north of Coos Bay, Ore. The ship was intentionally ignited to burn the fuel oil and later broke in two.

photo: NOAA

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Barge Millicoma on the shore of the Columbia River.

Barge Millicoma

On March 21, 2005, Barge Millicoma ran aground near the mouth of the Columbia River off the coast of Washington state. The 350-foot barge broke loose from a tugboat towline in bad weather on the Columbia River bar. After two days, the ship was refloated and transported to Astoria, Ore., without incident.

photo: NOAA

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M/V Kuroshima aground after dragging anchor.

M/V Kuroshima

On November 26, 1997, M/V Kuroshima, a 370-foot freighter, ran aground in Summer Bay, Alaska, after dragging anchor during a heavy storm near Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

photo: NOAA

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M/T Igloo Moon aground near Biscayne National Park, FL.

M/T Igloo Moon

The M/T Igloo Moon, a chemical tanker carrying a full cargo (6,589 metric tons) of butadiene to Houston, Texas, ran aground November 6, 1996, on a sand bottom, in 25 feet of water, within the Biscayne National Park boundary, in Florida. The vessel was also carrying 57,000 gallons of IFO 380, a heavy fuel oil similar to number 6; 30,000 gallons of marine diesel; and 6,000 gallons of lube oil.

photo: NOAA

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The Exxon Valdez aground; tug assisting in response.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

On March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Within six hours of the grounding, the Exxon Valdez spilled approximately 10.9 million gallons (259,500 barrels) of its 53 million gallon cargo of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. The oil would eventually impact more than 1,100 miles of non-continuous coastline in Alaska, making the Exxon Valdez the largest oil spill in U.S. waters at the time.

photo: NOAA

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Deepwater Horizon platform in flames.

Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill

The Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill began in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, when the BP deep ocean well Macondo blew out. The blow-out resulted in an explosion aboard the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, killing 11 rig workers. The rig caught fire and sank two days later. As a result, approximately 4.9 million barrels (nearly 206 million gallons) of crude oil gushed from the seafloor for nearly three months. This incident became the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

photo: USCG

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Tugs respond to the submerged Barge DM932.

Barge DM 932

On July 23, 2008, the T/V Tintomara collided with the tug/barge (M/V Mel Oliver and DM932) near downtown New Orleans, La. The barge was ripped in half and spilled 6,738 barrels (283,000 gallons) of fuel, closing the Mississippi River to shipping for six days.

photo: NOAA

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US Coast Guard skiff examines damaged side of M/V Cosco Busan.

M/V Cosco Busan

The container ship M/V Cosco Busan struck the Bay Bridge in San Francisco Bay, Calif., on November 7, 2008. An approximate 100-foot gash in the hull of the vessel resulted, and 1,380 barrels (58,000 gallons) of fuel oil were released into the water.

photo: USCG

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M/V Cape Flattery grounded.

M/V Cape Flattery

On February 2, 2005, M/V Cape Flattery, 550-foot cement carrier grounded at the entrance of Barber's Point, Hawaii, resulting in injury to coral.

photo: NOAA

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M/T Athos listing after running aground.

M/T Athos I

On November 26, 2004, the M/T Athos I, a 750-foot tanker, hit obstructions in the Delaware River near Philadelphia, Pa. The tanker, registered in Cyprus, was carrying 325,000 barrels (13.6 million gallons) of heavy crude oil from Venezuela.

photo: NOAA

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Booms contain oil in Adak Bay after a spill.

Adak Oil Spill

On January 11, 2010, approximately 3,200 barrels (134,400 gallons) of diesel were released into a coastal stream from an underground tank operated by Adak Petroleum on Adak Island, Alaska.

photo: NOAA

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