Crowley Barge 160-1; Quinhagak, Alaska
NOAA initial notification: “Crowley Barge 160-1 ran aground near Quinhagak, AK, just south of the mouth of the Kuskokwim River on Sept. 16, 2009, as the result of navigation error during a normal fuel delivery to the village of Quinhagak. The barge has 72,000 gallons of gasoline and 72,000 gallons of Jet […]”[1]
Latest included source report
Posted 22 Sept 2009
Latest source report
“The Crowley barge 160-1 refloated on the high tide at 0100 LT this morning. Not only was it a spring tide, but strong NW winds offshore pushed additional water into the mouth of the Kanektok River allowing the refloat to occur. Subsequently, the barge traveled to the Quinhagak tank farm and discharged the entirety of its 72,000 gallons of gasoline and 7000 gals of the […]” Current outcome is not independently verified by seahazards.[4]
NOAA report chronology
4 dated source records · 17 Sept 2009 to 22 Sept 2009NOAA incident record opened
Initial notification excerpt: “Crowley Barge 160-1 ran aground near Quinhagak, AK, just south of the mouth of the Kuskokwim River on Sept. 16, 2009, as the result of navigation error during a normal fuel delivery to the village of Quinhagak. The barge has 72,000 gallons of gasoline and 72,000 gallons of Jet fuel. The barge is a 1968 single skin barge. The grounded barge had gone through two tidal cycles, during which the tug could not pull it off the bottom, prior to notifying CG Sector Anchorage on Sept. 17. No fuel has been released into the the environment. The CG requested that the NOAA SSC provide weather and tidal information. Shortly after the grounding a second barge, the OB-5, was summoned from Bethel 80 miles […]”
NOAA approximate incident area; not a vessel track
Initial incident area only. Dates are NOAA postings, not a vessel track. Playback advances every 5 seconds.
Milestone 1 of 4: 17 Sept 2009. NOAA incident record opened. NOAA approximate incident area; not a vessel track
NOAA incident record opened
Initial notification excerpt: “Crowley Barge 160-1 ran aground near Quinhagak, AK, just south of the mouth of the Kuskokwim River on Sept. 16, 2009, as the result of navigation error during a normal fuel delivery to the village of Quinhagak. The barge has 72,000 gallons of gasoline and 72,000 gallons of Jet fuel. The barge is a 1968 single skin barge. The grounded barge had gone through two tidal cycles, during which the tug could not pull it off the bottom, prior to notifying CG Sector Anchorage on Sept. 17. No fuel has been released into the the environment. The CG requested that the NOAA SSC provide weather and tidal information. Shortly after the grounding a second barge, the OB-5, was summoned from Bethel 80 miles […]”
NOAA approximate incident area; not a vessel track (59.750°, -161.917°)
SitRep for Sept 18, 2009:
Source report excerpt: “A three-man CG team from Sector Anchorage were sent on scene along with three members of the Pacific Strike team which arrived in Anchorage the morning of Sept. 18. Crowley has brought another smaller barge on-scene, the morning of Sept. 18, and is planning on litering fuel into it to hopefully refloat the grounded 160-1 barge. The CG is currently evaluating the Crowley litering plan prior to granting permission to commence that process. The NOAA SSC has kept the CG abreast of weather and tidal conditions at Quinhagak. John Whitney, NOAA SSC, in Anchorage”
Summary of Sept. 20, Sun morning, Conference Call
Source report excerpt: “Summary of important points from Sun. 10:00, Sept. 20, conference call: 1. Attendees were CG Sector Anchorage personnel both on-scene and in Anchorage, Crowley personel from both Seattle and Anchorage, State of Alaska ADEC, and a local Quinhagak rep. 2. Crowley now has O’Brien Response Group involved in helping them run their IMS 3. Warren Jones, local from Quinhagak, attended the conference call and was very useful and knowledgeable in establishing strategies for future barge movement in the channels of the Kanektok River and providing information on local RAR that might need protective booming. 4. Barge 160-1 remains aground, and did not float free on the previous nights high tide, […]”
Final situation report - Sept. 22, 2009
Source report excerpt: “The Crowley barge 160-1 refloated on the high tide at 0100 LT this morning. Not only was it a spring tide, but strong NW winds offshore pushed additional water into the mouth of the Kanektok River allowing the refloat to occur. Subsequently, the barge traveled to the Quinhagak tank farm and discharged the entirety of its 72,000 gallons of gasoline and 7000 gals of the remaining 12,000 gallons of jet fuel. The barge will now travel to Bethel where the remaining jet fuel will be off-loaded and the CG will inspect the barge. The response stood down at 1000 today, just in time for the 1100 change of command ceremony for Sector Anchorage at which new Captain Fosdick will be replacing interim […]”
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Details in the record
- Source record
- NOAA IncidentNews 8097[1]
Reading this account
Automatically assembled from NOAA's incident record and substantive Public Affairs or Situation Update posts. Dates are NOAA posting dates, which can differ from when events happened or original reports were published. Excerpts retain the source's wording and uncertainty. This account does not independently establish the cause, current outcome or safety of the area. NOAA coverage is selective; missing updates do not mean nothing happened. The map shows one approximate incident area, not a vessel track.
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Original sources
Timeline updated 17 Sept 2026. New reports and changes to this NOAA incident are incorporated automatically; this is not a live incident feed.
- 1.Crowley Barge 160-1; Quinhagak, Alaska ↗NOAA Office of Response and Restoration · 17 Sept 2009
- 2.SitRep for Sept 18, 2009: ↗NOAA IncidentNews · source report archive · 18 Sept 2009
- 3.Summary of Sept. 20, Sun morning, Conference Call ↗NOAA IncidentNews · source report archive · 20 Sept 2009
- 4.Final situation report - Sept. 22, 2009 ↗NOAA IncidentNews · source report archive · 22 Sept 2009
Related records in our archive
Original source text, preserved separately from this account.
NOAAORR-8097 NOAA response record
Crowley Barge 160-1; Quinhagak, Alaska. Quinhagak, Alaska. 1. Crowley Barge 160-1 ran aground near Quinhagak, AK, just south of the mouth of the Kuskokwim River on Sept. 16, 2009, as the result of navigation error during a normal fuel delivery to the village of Quinhagak. The barge has 72,000 gallons of gasoline and 72,000 gallons of Jet fuel. The barge is a 1968 single skin barge. The grounded barge had gone through two tidal cycles, during which the tug could not pull it off the bottom, prior to notifying CG Sector Anchorage on Sept. 17. No fuel has been released into the the environment. The CG requested that the NOAA SSC provide weather and tidal information. Shortly after the grounding a second barge, the OB-5, was summoned from Bethel 80 miles to the north. Barge OB-5 was able to liter 60,000 gallons of Jet fuel from barge 160-1 and delivered 55,000 gallons to tanks at Quinhagak. Upon returning to 160-1, barge OB-5 itself grounded just west [...] 2. THREAT: OIL. COMMODITY: GASOLINE AND JET FUEL. MAXIMUM POTENTIAL RELEASE: 144000 GALLONS. TAGS: GROUNDING. 3. POSITION 59.750N 161.917W. NOAA INCIDENTNEWS 8097: https://incidentnews.noaa.gov/incident/8097Open record and warning history →
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