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.

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.