Oil tanker taking on water, listing south of Galveston (VIDEO)

The following is the text of a press release issued by the U.S. Coast Guard, with a link to video of the vessel:

(GALVESTON, Texas) — Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Galveston is monitoring a 900-foot tank ship, which is taking on water 65 miles south of Galveston Island, Friday, March 6, 2009.

At approximately 8:20 a.m. the tank ship SKS Satilla, reported having an 8-degree port list due to taking on water in the ship’s ballast tanks.

The SKS Satilla is reported to have approximately 39.9 million gallons of crude oil on board.

A Coast Guard Air Station Houston MH-65 helicopter crew conducted an over flight of the tank ship, and did not find any signs of pollution from the ship. The Coast Guard Cutter Manowar is currently enroute to the tank ship.

The SKS Satilla is currently stable and there are no reports of any injuries to the crew. The Coast Guard is conducting an investigation into the cause of the incident.

“We have three priorities in response to the SKS Satilla. First we want to make sure the crew on board the ship remains safe. We are also closely monitoring the ship to ensure there is minimal environmental impact, and of course the stability of the SKS Satilla is paramount to a positive outcome to this situation,” said Cmdr. James Elliott, commanding officer of MSU Galveston.

Coast Guard personnel are working closely with the following organizations on this response:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association
United States Mineral Management Service
Texas General Land Office
SKS Obo and Tankers AS, ship’s owner

Video of the tank ship can be found by clicking on the following link:

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=486256