Anchor, concrete slab may also have punctured oil tanker’s hull

PHILADELPHIA – A tanker that spilled 265,000 gallons of oil into the Delaware River may have hit a large anchor and a concrete slab in addition to a hunk of metal already considered a possible culprit, Coast Guard officials said Tuesday.

Officials told a congressional subcommittee meeting in Philadelphia that investigators are inspecting the punctured section of hull taken from the Athos I and conducting paint-comparison tests to identify the cause of the Nov. 26 accident.

The anchor and the 8-by-4-foot concrete slab were found in the tanker’s path, and the anchor was bent, Coast Guard officials said.

Oil from the Athos I blackened nearly 60 miles of shoreline around Philadelphia, killing wildlife and hampering shipping.