Stranded Shrimp Boat Freed by Coast Guard

A shrimp boat stranded off the shore of Ponte Vedra, Fla., for days is finally free, according to a First Coast News report. The Coast Guard said no fuel was spilled during the move. The "Captain A. B." first hit the sand of Ponte Vedra Beach at around 5:30 a.m. last week. The boat's pilot reportedly fell asleep at the helm. Because of environmental worries, the US Coast Guard was in charge of the effort to get the boat afloat. Between pulls at high tide, the Coast Guard had been arranging tanker trucks to pump more than 4,000 gallons of fuel and oil off the boat, which, according to the report, helped in two ways. First, even though the boat's hull seemed sturdy, pumping out the petroleum would mean any spill would be less dangerous to the environment. The other benefit of an empty tank was that the boat was simply lighter and more likely to float when the next high tide washed in. Source: First Coast News