Reports of an oil sheen in the water around the tug Polar Wind prompted the unified command consisting of the United States Coast Guard, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation , and Northland Services to repond to the site of the grounding 40 miles east of Cold Bay on Ukolnoi Island.

The tug Polar Wind went aground on Tuesday night. The Coast Guard lifted the crew from the vessel later that night. The vessel grounded while trying to re-attach the tow line that had broken between it and its barge, the Unimak trader. Both vessels went aground on Ukolnoi Island east of Cold Bay during the attempt.

Initial overflights after the tug grounded and the crew were hoisted off showed no signs of oil leaking from the vessel. But, those reports changed on Friday. Containment boom was deployed around the vessel, which had emitted a light, broken, rainbow sheen.

“Upon receiving reports of the sheen in the water, the unified command activated their response plan to boom the vessels and minimize any environmental impact,” said Capt. Paul Mehler III, commander, Coast Guard Sector Anchorage. “The potential for maritime pollution has always been one of our primary concerns with this response, once reports indicated that we had an issue, response crews were able to quickly respond to the situation.”

Both the tug and its barge were evaluated after the grounding. The initial evaluation showed that the tug had lost its rudder and had suffered propellor damage. The fuel amount aboard the tug has been re-reported to be 20,500 gallons of diesel. It is unknown if her fuel tanks have been damaged. The barge remained hard aground with five flooded spaces. The barge is carrying 90 refrigerated containers, 30 of which are filled with frozen fish. The barge also has 1,800 gallons of diesel aboard.