Hood Canal News

One of Puget Sound's oldest surviving wooden tugs is being restored after sinking in Hood Canal in the summer of 2017.Built in 1906 by James Hall, the tugboat Parthia had a long-life servicing ships that called to Washington's Capital City, Olympia. Beyond working, she is also a five-time winner of the Olympia Harbor Days vintage tugboat races - a true icon of the city's waterfront.After the vessel sank while under private ownership, several members of the Puget Sound Maritime…

Infrastructure renewal and engineering combine to provide an obscure, often under-appreciated, but nevertheless critically important aspect of marine operations. In the Pacific Northwest, for example, the waterway abundant geography provides engineering and specialized moving company Omega Morgan with all sorts of challenges that involve bridges spanning rivers. Whether crossing or moving these spans, West Coast-based Omega Morgan, faces particularly unique engineering challenges.

The Coast Guard Maritime Force Protection Unit based in Bangor, Wash., is scheduled to conduct an exercise on the Hood Canal, Tuesday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The exercise includes boat tactics, security zone enforcement, weapons capabilities and is designed to ensure the highest quality training for Coast Guard personnel. During the exercise, Coast Guard personnel will be using blank rounds and LA-51 warning munitions for live-fire training. No person will have anything shot at them. All necessary precautions will be taken to ensure discarded casings are collected for appropriate disposal, and designated spotters will monitor marine mammal activity. If any marine mammals are spotted in the vicinity, all exercise activity will cease until all wildlife depart the training area.

Three people are alive tonight after their 58-foot fishing boat capsized in the Hood Canal near Foul Weather Bluff, forcing them to abandon ship and take refuge onboard their small skiff. The Coast Guard received a call from a nearby pleasure craft shortly after the fishing vessel Martle had capsized. The Kodiak, Ala. based Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley, operating in the area, was diverted to the scene and an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Port Angeles was launched to the scene. A Coast Guard patrol boat operating in the area was dispatched and the Alex Haley resumed its original course. A rescue boat from North Kitsap Fire and Rescue also launched to the scene. The master of the vessel, Ed Einarson of Blaine, Wash.

Fourteen projects to restore Puget Sound, Hood Canal and associated marine waters will take a big step forward this summer with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Puget Sound Marine Conservation Fund. The Fund was established last year as part of the settlement of a criminal case with Evergreen International Shipping Line. John McKay, United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, was joined by Jay Manning, the Director of the Washington State Department of Ecology to announce the successful grant recipients today. “These grants will help in ways large and small to improve the health of Puget Sound,” said United States Attorney John McKay.

The Coast Guard and Washington Department of Ecology are jointly coordinating the response to a fuel sheen located near Port Gamble, Wash. Coast Guard and Ecology experts are tracking the spill by helicopter to better assess the situation. Pollution investigators from Coast Guard Sector Seattle and the Department of Ecology arrived on-scene earlier this morning and began the investigation into the sheen. The 140-ft. tugboat Magic sank near the entrance to Port Gamble and is the apparent source of the spill. Oil is no longer is flowing from the vessel. The Coast Guard has opened the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to enable clean-up efforts to begin without delay. Contractors are placing boom at pre-identified sensitive areas along northern Hood Canal.