PORT TOWNSEND — A 200-foot barge carrying 2,200 pounds of sawdust was beached near the Port Townsend Paper Corp. mill Wednesday afternoon to prevent it from sinking.
The barge, owned by Seaspan International Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C., began listing as it and a second barge were being towed toward the paper mill.
The incident began about a mile off the Port Townsend Boat Haven at about 2 p.m. in windy, rainy weather.
As beaches and high places filled with onlookers, the crew of the tugboat Seaspan Valiant cut the lines to the second barge, which was empty, to save the other barge.
Seaspan Port Captain Brian Stansbury said the barge, known as Seaspan 495, was never in danger of sinking.
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The rest of the story appears in Thurday’s Peninsula Daily News.