NEAH BAY — An ocean-going rescue tug will take its station near the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca today, beginning what is planned to be year-round duty.
Crowley Maritime Services’ Hunter will extend westward 54 miles the protection that currently stops at Port Angeles.
The state has stationed rescue tugs at Neah Bay during the winter storm seasons for the past nine years, sending them off each spring.
The last Legislature, however, funded a state $3.65 million Department of Ecology contract with Crowley to keep a tug in Neah Bay from today to June 30, 2009.
Approval came in April, when crude oil cost about $20 per barrel less than today.
It is not known if higher prices will affect the length of stay of the tug, which has to use fuel during low tides to find deeper water than is available in the Makah Marina.
