The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $1 million from the owner of the tug Tagish after the vessel sank in Alaska’s Gastineau Channel and was later removed using federal pollution response funds.
According to a complaint filed in late February in U.S. District Court in Alaska, the federal government is seeking $914,794 from Don Etheridge and his wife, Teresa, to recover costs associated with raising the 107' tug after it sank near Juneau’s downtown cruise ship docks in December 2022. Etheridge previously served as chair of Juneau’s Docks and Harbors board.
The privately owned, World War II–era wooden tug had been moored in Gastineau Channel south of the cruise ship berths while Etheridge worked on restoring the vessel as a long-term hobby project. When the vessel sank, it contained approximately 60 gals. of diesel fuel and 50 gals. of lubricating oil, prompting a response from multiple agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard.
Federal officials determined the sunken vessel posed a potential pollution threat and issued an administrative order requiring Etheridge to develop a removal plan. According to court filings, the order described the vessel as presenting a “substantial threat to public health and the welfare of the environment.”
Etheridge did not have insurance coverage for the vessel and was unable to fund the salvage effort. As a result, the removal was carried out using the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. The tug remained submerged for roughly two months before contractors completed the recovery operation in early 2023.
Following the cleanup, the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Pollution Funds Center billed Etheridge $914,794 in November 2025 for the cost of the response. The Justice Department’s lawsuit alleges the bill remains unpaid.
According to Alaska’s KTOO, derelict and abandoned vessels continue to pose challenges for ports and waterways across Alaska. The sinking of Tagish follows other incidents in Gastineau Channel involving aging tugs, including the WWII-era Challenger, which sank in 2015, and the Lumberman, another former tug that drifted in the channel before being towed offshore and scuttled by the Coast Guard in 2021.
Federal officials have also taken enforcement action in other recent cases. Last month, prosecutors charged three Alaska fishermen with allegedly intentionally sinking their vessels.
