Cargo ship loses steering, towed to Port Angeles for repairs

Published 12:01 am Thursday, July 4, 2013

PORT ANGELES — A cargo ship lost steering off Port Angeles just after midnight Wednesday and was towed into the Port Angeles Harbor for repair.

The state Department of Ecology received a report from the state Emergency Management Division that the Grand Quest lost steering 6 nautical miles northwest of Port Angeles in the Strait of Juan de Fuca just after 12:15 a.m.

The Grand Quest is a 587-foot Panama-flagged auto carrier that left Astoria, Ore., at 5:35 p.m. Tuesday, and was on its way to Tacoma, according to the ship’s GPS locator beacon.

The Brian S., a Port Angeles-based tug, towed the ship to anchor in Port Angeles at about 3 a.m., said Petty Officer Katelyn Tyson, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

Ecology and the Coast Guard monitored the ship’s repairs. By 10 a.m. Wednesday, the repairs were completed, and the ship was expected to continue to Tacoma, Tyson said.

There was no immediate threat to human health and safety or the environment, said Ecology spokeswoman Linda Kent.