Working Conditions Aboard the Caribbean-Dawn

The state Department of Ecology (Ecology) and U.S. Coast Guard called for the "Jeffrey Foss", the industry-funded emergency response towing vessel stationed at Neah Bay, to assist the tug "Commitment" and its barge and prevent an oil spill on July 29, 2010. The 170-foot tug "Commitment" had gone adrift shortly after 1 p.m. in the Strait of Juan de Fuca about 19 miles northwest of Port Angeles, posing the risk of an oil spill. The "Commitment", owned by Crowley Maritime Corp., was part of a connected tug and barge combination and pushing a fuel barge containing about eight million gallons of diesel and jet fuel toward Portland. The tug itself was carrying more than 100,000 gallons of fuel.