Anacortes sunken vessel at Shannon Point

(Information on this site is considered to be accurate at the time of posting, but is subject to change as new information becomes available.)

A 30 foot pleasure craft, the Blue Dolphin, was reported to have sunk near Shannon Point in the Guemes Channel.

Summary information

Date of incident:  January 26, 2012
Location:

Shannon Point, Anacortes, Washington

Type of incident: Oil sheen
Cause of incident: Under Investigation
The Blue Dolphin boat sunk in the water.

The Blue Dolphin sunk near Shannon Point in Anacortes.

Status updates

March 6, 2012

 

On Tuesday morning, Ecology observed the sunken vessel from a neighboring property. There is no sheen visible but some debris that appears to be from the boat remains on the owner's beach.

 

February 12, 2012

 

On Sunday evening, Ecology received a call from a private citizen reporting having seen a sheen that day from the Blue Dolphin. Ecology contacted the owner and he said he was not able to raise the boat that day because the timing of the tides was not good.

 

According to the owner, about two weeks ago two of the vessel's mooring lines broke loose in heavy winds, swung the boat around, causing it to hit rocks, damaging the hull. As a result of the damage, the boat sank.

 

Ecology will continue to work with the U.S. Coast Guard and the owner until the boat is raised and there is no further threat of a spill.

 

February 7, 2012

 

The owner of the sunken vessel was located and reported that there was less than one gallon of oil in each engine when it was reported to have sunk. His boat is his private property and is not on the State Department of Natural Resources Derelict Vessel Program's list. He intends to try and raise the vessel at low tide on Sunday, February 12th.

 

January 27, 2012

 

On Thursday evening and Friday morning, Ecology observed the sunken vessel from a neighbor's property. Vessel is on the owner's property and at this time there is no visible spill.

 

January 26, 2012

 

At approximately 9:10 a.m. on Thursday, January 26th, 2012, a 30 foot pleasure craft, the Blue Dolphin, was reported to have sunk near Shannon Point in the Guemes Channel. Life jackets, door panels and other debris were said to be floating near the boat.

 

At high tide, there was a burp of fuel from the vessel which reportedly smelled like old gasoline.

 

At 11:45 a.m., the Anacortes Fire Department reported that the boat was resting on its bottom but there was no visible sheen.

 

Media contact

Ty Keltner, Media contact, ty.keltner@ecy.wa.gov, 360-407-7455