On December 23, 2006, the Liberian oil tanker M/T Petrovsk arrived at the Galveston Lightering Area in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship was scheduled to perform lightering operations with another vessel, but operations were postponed because of inclement weather. The ship was to remain at anchor until weather conditions improved. During the early morning of December 24, 2006, the ship began dragging its anchor because of high winds.