Disabled Tug Sinks In Low Tide

Motor trouble and low tide combined to sink a tugboat Monday in Puget Sound’s Budd Inlet.

The tug “Duffer” had engine trouble Sunday night, so the owner tied up to a buoy, the Olympia Fire Department reported. When the tide went out Monday morning, the stern went aground and dipped the bow into the water.

The owner was having breakfast at an Olympia restaurant when friends stopped by to tell him about the sinking, the fire department said.

Firefighters placed a boom around the tug to contain a small fuel leak.

A salvage crew planned to re-float the boat Tuesday.