A 32-foot private fishing boat came aground in Penn Cove Tuesday, prompting emergency responders to work together quickly to help contain a fuel spill.

A mooring line broke some time either late Monday or early Tuesday, causing the Mukilteo-based “Smish” to drift across the cove to a beach near Monroe’s Landing.

The boat had been tied to a buoy offshore not far from the Captain Whidbey Inn in Coupeville.

North Whidbey Fire & Rescue got the call at 9:12 a.m., said Jim O’Connor, captain in charge of the department’s marine rescue program.

The agency worked with the City of Oak Harbor Marina and Oak Harbor Fire Department to set a boom not far from shore to keep any spilled diesel fuel or oil contained in the immediate area.

Andy Quast, spill responder with the Washington Department of Ecology, said that fuel had spilled due to the grounding but was uncertain how much leaked into Penn Cove.

The boat, owned by Rick Heppell of Everett, contained two 100-gallon fuel tanks.

Quast said quite a bit of fuel remained in the tanks and he was meeting with Heppell Friday to determine an amount that spilled.

North Whidbey Fire and Rescue Chief Mike Brown said he estimated “a significant amount” of fuel had leaked from the vessel, which he classified as a private pleasure boat.

Brown said his department got the call Tuesday morning after a nearby resident smelled diesel fuel in the air near Monroe’s Landing.

He said the boat owner found the drifting boat about two hours earlier and notified the U.S. Coast Guard and others but his department didn’t learn of the incident until a neighbor made the emergency call.

That set off a chain of events that led to a collaborative effort to contain the leaking diesel.

The Oak Harbor Marina let North Whidbey Fire & Rescue borrow its boat and a coxswain to set the boom, which is a temporary floating barrier.

The Oak Harbor Fire Department delivered a section of the boom for North Whidbey Fire firefighters to set, which they completed by just after 1 p.m., O’Connor said.

The U.S. Coast Guard, Island County Health Department and Vessel Assist out of Port Hadlock all played roles in assisting with the containment effort, O’Connor said.

About 700 feet of boom was set, Brown said.

“I thought it went great,” Brown said. “It’s not something we do a lot of. A lot of resources came together.”

Vessel Assist helped free the boat at high tide around midnight and it was taken to the Oak Harbor Marina, Brown said.

Earlier Tuesday, Heppell and Vessel Assist worked together to transfer fuel that overflowed into the tilted vessel’s bilge to a 55-gallon drum.

Although the smell of diesel was strong Tuesday, Quast said there was no sheen detected outside the containment area.

The quick response was a relief to Ian Jefferds, owner of Penn Cove Shellfish.

In May 2012, the derelict fishing vessel “Deep Sea” burned and sank in Penn Cove, spilling 5,500 gallons of mostly diesel and oil.

It forced the closure of the shellfish harvest for a month at Penn Cove Shellfish and had other longer-term consequences for the business.

Jefferds said there was no impact on his shellfish operation this time around, calling the comparison “apples versus crates of oranges.

“Obviously, they jumped on it right away, which is great,” Jefferds said.

“They did the boom on it right away and did what needed to be done. The responsible parties took care of business so it was awesome.”