Container Ship Back Under Control After Breaking Free From Tugboat

The crippled container ship Hyundai Seattle was back in tow Monday and was expected to arrive at Port Angeles by this morning, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The steel cable linking the 797-foot ship to an oceangoing tugboat broke in heavy seas Saturday when the vessels were about 150 miles west of the tip of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.

Coast Guard Chief Harry Millan said Monday that the crew of the tug Smit Singapore was able to reattach the towline Sunday evening. An earlier Coast Guard report that poor weather had prevented the reattachment was incorrect, Millan said.

The tug and ship were about 60 to 75 miles off the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Monday night and were expected to arrive at Port Angeles about 7 a.m. today, Millan said. The ship will be given a quick inspection and will then be taken to Seattle, arriving Wednesday morning, he said.

When the towline snapped, it recoiled and hit the tugboat’s chief mate, cutting his leg and breaking his collarbone. He was airlifted by the Canadian Coast Guard to a Victoria, British Columbia, hospital.

The Greek-flagged Hyundai Seattle, operated by Hyundai America, was disabled off the Aleutians by an engine-room fire Dec. 9. The 27 crew members were rescued unharmed by the Coast Guard cutter Munro on Dec. 12 and the ship was abandoned about 550 miles south of Adak Island and 1,500 miles northwest of Seattle.

Under admiralty law, the ship now belongs to the tugboat company, Smit International of Denmark.