Seabulk Pride

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File:Seabulk Pride aground.jpg
The Seabulk Pride aground

The Seabulk Pride, operated by Seabulk Tankers of Ft. Lauderdale,FL, was constructed in 1998 at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. She was built as part of a series of new double hulled tankers serving the domestic market. The Seabulk Pride is a double-hulled oil tanker which ran aground near the port of Nikiski, Alaska on February 2, 2006. The tanker had been moored at the Nikiski docks when she was struck by an ice floe which parted her mooring lines. [1] The Seabulk Pride - and her cargo of 5 million gallons of oil - drifted northward up Cook Inlet, where she ran aground. She was refloated the next day, February 3, 2006, with no significant oil release. [2]

On January 9, 2007 the Seabulk Pride experienced difficulty at the same dock when extremely icy conditions once again pulled her from her mooring; however, she was able to depart for open water. Subsequent to these two incidents, a tug was assigned to assist vessels at the hazardous port, which has a high tidal range and fast current in addition to being subject to unpredictable heavy icing conditions. [3]

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