NEAH BAY — The rescue tug Lauren Foss was sent into action Wednesday afternoon after a tugboat lost its tow and set a barge drifting near Cape Flattery.
The barge never hit shore and its tug was able to re-establish a connection within about an hour, but the short drama made for a “tense situation,” said Sandy Howard, spokeswoman for the state Department of Ecology.
The barge was being towed from Hawaii to Washington by the La Connor-based tug Phyllis Dunlap. It carried some cars and containers aboard, but was mostly empty, said Howard.
At about 1 p.m., the Neah Bay-based Lauren Foss was dispatched to assist with the barge after the tug reported losing the connection to its load.
A miles off the rocks
It was adrift about one mile off the rocks of Cape Flattery, but the wind was pushing it away from land, Howard said.
“It was closer to the rocks than we wanted it to be,” she said. “It was a bit of a tense situation.
“Fortunately, the weather conditions were very good.”
