Oil Tanker Tugs In Puget Sound Will Get New Radar Maritime Industry, Feds Reach Compromise On Oil Spill Prevention

The maritime industry, reluctant to foot the bill for a larger U.S. Coast Guard fleet, has agreed instead to buy new radar equipment for oil tanker tugs in Puget Sound to help guard against oil spills, federal officials said Friday.

The radar and transponder equipment, costing as much as $100,000 or more per tug, will improve communication with U.S. Coast Guard vessels and speed response time to tankers in distress, aides to Washington Sen. Patty Murray said.

The agreement represents a compromise after the industry opposed in recent years a proposal by Murray and Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., to require the industry to finance an additional Coast Guard tug for the sound.

“This is one of the first proactive measures developed to stop oil spills before they ever occur,” Murray said in a statement.

President Clinton and Transportation Secretary Federico Pena checked off on the agreement Friday, said Mike Egan, an aide to Murray.

There is no immediate estimate on the overall cost of the program or how many tugs will be equipped, he said.

Pena, nominated for energy secretary, said in a statement that the newly announced International Tug of Opportunity System (ITOS) would bring help more quickly to any vessel, “including an oil tanker that lost power of steering.