In this photo by the U.S. Coast Guard, the 800 ft grounded tank ship Yasa Golden Dardanelles is moored next to the lightering vessel SPT Crusader, Monday, Feb. 23, 2009.
The Yasa Golden Dardanelles became grounded 22 miles off the Galveston coast, Friday, Feb. 20, 2009.
Lightering operations commenced Monday afternoon in an effort to refloat the tank ship. An estimated 3.5 million gallons of the tank ship's cargo will be offloaded during the lightering procedure.
Marine Safety Unit Galveston is working on the response effort with the following organizations: Texas General Land Office, SPT Inc., Tower Navigation, Inc., United States Mineral Management Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, Titan Salvage, O'Brien's Response Management and the Marine Spill Response Corporation.
(U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer Patrick D. Kelley)