An oil spill cleanup barge carrying 17 people was adrift for hours in rough seas in the Gulf of Alaska on Sunday and Monday after a steel tow wire broke between the barge and a tug boat.

A spokesman for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which runs the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and oversees spill cleanup equipment, said no one was injured or in jeopardy, even though the barge was loose for more than 18 hours. At the time of the break, winds were more than 60 knots and seas averaged 25 feet.

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