PENSACOLA - Workers tried Sunday to contain an estimated 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel that were spilled accidentally into Pensacola Bay a day earlier by crew members on a docked cargo ship.
The ship Alchiba was unloading flour and other agricultural products when crew inadvertently dumped the fuel into one or more of the ship's ballast tanks around 5:30 a.m. CDT Saturday, said assistant port director Leon Walker.
The fuel and ballast water then were discharged into the bay, he said.
"The Coast Guard believes the spill was contained for the most part, but the spill did spread to the east and west," Walker said. "How far, we don't know."
The Coast Guard, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and port workers tried to contain the spill, Coast Guard Chief Harry Chichester said Sunday.
Walker said he expected cleanup efforts to continue for the next few days.
Workers were using containment booms and vacuum trucks to hold back the spill, said Jim Lawrence, a spokesman for the ship's owner, V. Ships of Cyprus.
