Responders Clean Up Oil Spill From Unknown Source in Port Manatee

[Brief] The U.S. Coast Guard and response contractors are working on cleaning up a substantial oil spill at Port Manatee, Florida. The spill has contaminated a stretch of the waterfront within the port's main basin, and the responders have recovered over 12,000 gallons of oil and water mixture from the scene.

Port Manatee serves the container, bulk and breakbulk trades with 10 deepwater berths and 40 feet of water. It was on the outskirts of the mandatory port closure area for Hurricane Idalia last week, and it reopened on Thursday.

The spill was discovered Friday, and cleanup  operations continued overnight into Saturday. There did not appear to be any new releases of oil over the weekend, according to the Coast Guard. About 1,400 feet of boom has been deployed around the area in order to contain the spill to one location. 

Courtesy USCG

The responders are also cleaning spilled oil off the hull of an adjacent freighter, the Seastar Victory. 

The source of the oil spill is unknown and remains under investigation. The responsible party has not yet been identified.