The Nation - News from March 2, 1987

A 615-foot Cypriot tanker experienced a gyro compass failure and slammed into a 200-foot-tall electrical tower on the fog-shrouded Delaware River, grounding itself and blocking ship traffic, the Coast Guard said. Lt. (j.g.) Matthew Carr said no one was hurt and there was no danger of a spill, but ship traffic was temporarily halted because the collision pulled high-voltage power lines into the river. Carr said the Sea Pride 2 was steaming south from Philadelphia without a cargo when it hit the electrical transmission tower about five miles south of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which links Delaware to New Jersey. A commercial tugboat was en route to assist the ship, he said.