San Diego

The long odyssey of the Exxon Valdez will end early Sunday, when the crippled tanker will enter San Diego Bay for repairs, Coast Guard and Exxon officials confirmed Friday.

The tanker, drifting 56 miles west of San Diego, will be towed to a point just outside state waters for most of the day today, Exxon spokeswoman Jan Cool said in a written statement. The trip, which began at 10 p.m. Friday, was expected to take 24 hours, Cool said.

After a final inspection is completed early Sunday, the ship will enter San Diego Bay at 6:30 a.m., Coast Guard Lt. Larry Solberg said. The Coast Guard has secured a promise from Greenpeace and other environmental groups not to block the ship’s way, Solberg said.

Exxon officials said they expect the Valdez to arrive at the National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. dock by 10 a.m.

Exxon has contracted with Nassco to repair damage suffered by the Valdez when it hit a reef in Alaska’s Prince William sound March 24. That accident resulted in the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

The Valdez had been scheduled to dock in San Diego on July 11, but suspicious discharges near the ship, as well as the tanker’s structural problems, delayed its entry into the harbor.