Oil Spills Spur Probe, Explanations : Early Anchoring Blamed for 1 of 3 Separate Accidents

The captain and pilot of a tanker that spilled more than 310,000 gallons of oil in the Delaware River said today an anchor was dropped too soon, causing the vessel to swing around and run aground on the shoals.

In Rhode Island, a grand jury was convened today to investigate a 420,000-gallon oil spill, and the cleanup of 250,000 gallons of crude in Texas was nearly over.

The spills occurred within hours of each other over the weekend.

Capt. Raul Dibarrart, testifying at a Coast Guard inquiry in Philadelphia, said the crew of the Uruguayan tanker was lowering the anchor to the water’s surface in preparation for dropping anchor farther up the Delaware River shipping channel.

‘It’s Running Away’

“I heard the anchor fall, and I heard over the walkie-talkie my lieutenant say ‘It’s running away,’ ” the captain said, speaking through an interpreter.

The captain and the tanker pilot, Robert Anderson, said the vessel swung around and ran aground in the shallows, then ran aground again as two tugboats tried to bring it back into deep water and set it back on course.

It was then that a tugboat captain noticed oil coming from the tanker, the pilot said.

Paul L. Ives Jr., president of the Pilots Assn. for the Bay and River Delaware, said before the hearing got under way that dropping the anchor from a 749-foot vessel is “like stepping on the leash of a running dog.”

Meanwhile, a Coast Guard spokesman said more people and boats were being pressed into service today to clean up the heavy industrial heating oil, which was mostly congealed in huge blobs that could be picked up by hand.

Cleanup Complicated

Temperatures in the mid-90s Tuesday made the oil run in spots, complicating the cleanup and raising the threat to the shore and to wildlife, but Coast Guard spokesman Jim Weakley said today’s weather was cooler and the spill is “winding down.”

In Rhode Island, the effort to fix blame for Friday’s tanker accident shifted to a state grand jury. Some of the crew and the captain, Iakovas Georgudis, have been summoned.

The state is investigating whether a harbor pilot was required to be on board the World Prodigy when it ran aground, spilling 420,000 gallons of heating oil at the mouth of Narragansett Bay.

In interviews with Coast Guard officials and the governor after the spill, Georgudis admitted that he made a mistake in not taking on a pilot to take the vessel into the harbor.

Virtually all the spilled No. 2 heating oil had dispersed, and officials said a rainstorm forecast for this afternoon would help flush the oil out of the sand and break up a sheen in the water.

Crews this morning continued the cleanup in the Houston Ship Channel after the collision of a tanker with a barge. Most of the slick was contained and all but about 20,000 gallons have been removed, Coast Guard spokesman Bob Morehead said.