WASHOUGAL – Crews pumped fuel from the tanks of a stranded cruise ship Saturday to make it lighter and easier to refloat, hoping to be finished by about 7 p.m.
Then, Petty Officer Mike Zolzer said, investigators will consider whether the ship is stable enough to be moved under its own power, or if it needs an assist from a tugboat.
Depending on their findings, officials might try to refloat the stuck ship Saturday night at high tide, Zolzer said, or early Sunday morning.
The Empress of the North, a 360-foot sternwheeler, hit a sandbar about 350 yards from shore Friday morning. There were no injuries and the estimated 260 occupants were taken off without incident.
The U.S. Coast Guard approved the salvage plan developed by the Seattle-based America West Steamship co., the Washington state Department of Ecology and the Coast Guard.
Coast Guard Ensign Nick Barrow said Saturday that the fuel tanks were intact and that there was no pollution.
He said equipment was standing by in case a leak of the ship’s 35,000 gallons of fuel should occur.
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