Tugboats Tow Disabled Container Ship To Tacoma

Two tugs had to tow a disabled container ship south through Puget Sound to Tacoma Wednesday afternoon. The 712-foot container ship, the Horizon Tacoma, had smoke coming out of one of its turbochargers in its propulsion engine about three miles north of Neah Bay late Tuesday evening. The ship's captain and engineer decided to shut down the engine, a Washington Department of Ecology news release said.HORIZON TACOMAA repair crew boarded the ship at 7 a.m. Wednesday and decided a tow was needed. The Hunter, a state-funded emergency response tug, plus another escort tug, the Garth Foss, responded to take the ship to Tacoma. The tugs and container ship were expected to pass west of Seattle mid-afternoon Wednesday. Owned by Horizon Lines, the Horizon Tacoma was sailing from Dutch Harbor in Alaska.