Five people aboard a tugboat are breathing a sigh of relief after being brought to safety by the U.S. Coast Guard off the coast of La Push.
On Friday around 4:10 p.m., the US Coast Guard requested assistance from the tugboat Luther after it could no longer steer.
Luther was towing a 300-foot ship with cement and fuel on board when it lost control.
With weather battering the tugboat 10 miles off the coast of La Push, the call for help became an emergency when they began taking on water.
The Coast Guard sent a Motor Rescue Boat (MLB), a helicopter and a rescue tug to return the Luther to port.
To prevent the boat from sinking, the crew of the Luther released the concrete ship.
Shortly after the Coast Guard arrived and prepared to tow the Luther, the loose ship began drifting toward the crew, prompting them to quickly board the MLB.
As Luther’s crew boarded the MLB, one of the crew members fell into the water but was quickly pulled aboard.
Lauren Foss, the rescue tug, was unable to tow the Luther after one of the lines became tangled in the propeller.
Soon, the Canadian Coast Guard ship Atlantic Raven arrived with more U.S. Coast Guard crews to seize the Luther before it ran aground.
Luther was taken to Port Angeles and plans were made to move the ship to a safe port after locating it hours after losing sight of it.
According to the USCG, the ship is carrying 10,000 tons of cement mix and 1,200 gallons of diesel fuel and poses a pollution threat, but no signs of pollution have been observed.
The USCG is working with the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Makah Tribe, the Canadian Coast Guard and commercial partners to return the ship to port.
All boats in the area were warned that the ship was drifting at sea.
