Tanker Runs Aground:
Estimated Spill at 828,000
Gallons
On January 19, 1996, the oil tank barge North Cape ran aground off Moonstone
Beach in Rhode Island during a violent storm, spilling an estimated 828,000
gallons of No. 2 fuel oil into Block Island Sound. The barge grounded after
the tugboat Scandia, which was towing the barge, suffered an engine-room fire.
The fire forced the tug's crew members to abandon ship, leaving the tug and the
barge adrift. Subsequent efforts to anchor the barge as it drifted towards
Moonstone Beach were unsuccessful. The spill has affected an
environmentally-sensitive section of the Rhode Island coast, including salt
water ponds that provicde habitat and spawning grounds for various species of
fish and shellfish. Information about previous major oil spills is available
under Spill Profiles.
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