Sunday, November 12, 2006

Fuel Tanker Runs Aground

A tanker carrying home heating oil ran aground in an inlet on the Atlantic coast of western Long Island early yesterday, but luckily didn't spring a leak. The ship, the Kristin Poling, was about 450 yards from shore when it got stuck on the bottom of East Rockaway Inlet shortly after midnight, the Coast Guard said.The 281-foot-long vessel was still aground at 2 p.m., but its hull was intact and authorities were making plans to refloat it at high tide. Coast Guard officials said the ship's operator intended to lighten the ship and then use tugboats to pull it free.The ship was carrying 672,000 gallons of oil at the time of the accident, the Coast Guard said. Precautions were made to contain any fuel that spilled if the single-hulled vessel sprang a leak, officials said.

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