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Safety-escort tugs are an important part of a safety system developed to guide oil tankers through Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef. The system was developed after the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 on order to prevent future tanker spills.
Two years ago, on December 23, 2009, a safety-escort tug ran aground on the same submerged reef that ripped open the hull of the Exxon Valdez supertanker and caused the worst tanker oil spill in U.S. history. On May 5, U.S. Coast Guard investigators released a report stating that the tugboat Pathfinder crashed because the captain was playing video games.
At the time of the tug boat accident, the Pathfinder had been headed back to the trans-Alaska pipeline in Valdez after being sent to scout for floating ice in the area traveled by oil tankers. The Captain lost track of the vessel's location, but proceeded to change course and increase speed. He did not properly communicate these changes to the other officers onboard. When the tug crashed into Bligh Reef, it spilled more than 6,410 gallons of diesel fuel.
The Coast Guard suggests that new regulations or policies be made about the use of electronic devices and cell phones while navigating a vessel.
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