U.S. Coast Guard news

The Coast Guard Arctic District has a new commander.

And Valdez has a new cutter.

Another problem for Peter Pan

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is suing Peter Pan Seafood Co. to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act at processing plants in Valdez and King Cove.

Under a proposed consent decree, Peter Pan and another company, PSF Inc., would pay a civil penalty of $750,000.

The decree lays out requirements to monitor and manage seafood processing waste discharges.

The EPA lawsuit also names Silver Bay Seafoods as a defendant, due to Silver Bay's recent purchase of Peter Pan's Valdez plant.

Silver Bay Seafoods to pay $75K in pollution case

Details in this press release from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

Fishing vessel explodes at Valdez

The commercial fishing vessel Fireman exploded this evening in the Valdez harbor adjacent to the Best Western hotel, the U.S. Coast Guard reports.

A person aboard walked off after the blast and went by ambulance to a hospital, the Coast Guard says.

Emergency responders "found the Fireman afloat with the majority of its wheelhouse torn apart by the explosion."

It happened around 7:55 p.m. and the cause is under investigation, the Coast Guard says.

State records show the 35-foot Fireman belongs to Thomas S. Lopez. His address is listed as a postal box in Valdez.

Crew safe after seiner capsizes at Valdez

Details in this news release from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Fate Hunter finds disaster

The fish tender Fate Hunter, partially sunk about seven miles west of Valdez. The 65-foot steel-hulled vessel was heading to Valdez after taking aboard 150,000 pounds of salmon when it ran aground Sunday morning. A nearby vessel, the Akemi, picked up the Fate Hunter's uninjured crew. The tender belongs to Smotherman Fishing Inc. of Hammond, Ore. Efforts are under way to recover fuel from the vessel. DEC photo

Valdez wins, processor loses

Here's an Alaska Supreme Court opinion that seems to very much favor the city of Valdez in a dispute with Sea Hawk Seafoods.

Crew safe after seiner sinks near Valdez

The U.S. Coast Guard reports the purse seiner Lively Jane hit a submerged rock and sank this morning in Anderson Bay, six miles southwest of Valdez.

The five crewmen were able to climb aboard a skiff before the seiner went down, the Coast Guard says.

As always, the cause is said to be "under investigation."

The owner of the 56-foot Lively Jane is listed in state records as Jon L. Andrews Jr. of Seward.

Nice save

The crew of the 57-foot Copasetic was forced to beach the boat early this morning in the Valdez Narrows at Jack Bay after it began taking on water. Skipper and owner Jonathan Wilkie, along with Derrick Branson and Joshua Zimmerman, all of Seward, used a skiff to reach the shore, where a U.S. Coast Guard boat picked them up safely. The Copasetic sustained serious bow damage. USCG photo

Pathfinder arrives safely home

The tug Pathfinder moored in Valdez at 12:56 a.m. after a 10-hour, 20-mile tow through Prince William Sound, the U.S. Coast Guard reports. An investigation continues into why the tug, used to help manage oil tankers, hit Bligh Reef on Wednesday. USCG photo

Pathfinder limping back to port, captain relieved

Here's a few more update items on the Pathfinder, the tug that sustained major damage Wednesday after hitting Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound:

• The Pathfinder is expected to arrive in Valdez around 10 p.m. tonight, having been taken under tow at 2 p.m. off Busby Island, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said.

• About 36,000 gallons of mixed diesel and water were removed from the tug's damaged fuel tanks, the DEC said.

• At least six commercial fishing vessels helped with operations to skim what diesel managed to escape the tug, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

• Still no word from investigators or Crowley Maritime Corp., operator of the Pathfinder, on why the tug crew hit a navigational hazard as notorious as Bligh Reef.

• The tug's master and second mate have been relieved of duty pending further investigation, said Crowley, based in Jacksonville, Fla.

Salmon seiner turns tow boat

The commercial fishing vessel Leah C tows away a dead humpback whale that was carried into the Port of Valdez on the bulbous bow of the oil tanker Kodiak, which works for Exxon Mobil. The captain of the Leah C, Bernie Culbertson of Valdez, took the carcass to sea for disposal on Wednesday. NOAA Fisheries Enforcement is investigating the whale strike. Photo by Brielle Schaeffer, Valdez Star