Coast Guard officials last night began an inspection of Tesoro Hawaii's transfer facility off Barbers Point to determine if the refiner can resume off-loading operations, following Saturday's spill of 2,000 gallons of crude oil.

A helicopter flyover yesterday did not find any oil sheen remaining on the ocean's surface, indicating that the oil had dissipated and that no further cleanup operations were needed, a Coast Guard official said.

Tankers offload their crude oil offshore Barbers Point, at a mooring 1 1/2 miles from land. The spill happened when a coupling separated from a 16-inch-diameter, flexible pipeline that carries crude oil from the tanker to the refinery at Campbell Industrial Park, Tesoro spokesman Nathan Hokama said yesterday.

Hokama said the cause of the malfunction was being investigated.

Last night Coast Guard inspectors went to the mooring that serves as the transfer point to inspect the coupling, Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson said. Tesoro will not be allowed to accept the delivery of crude oil until the equipment is determined to be safe, Johnson said.

As of 11 p.m. the inspection team had not reported any findings, Johnson said.

Hokama said the delivery delay should not cause any shortages at the refinery, which uses the light crude oil to make jet fuel, diesel and gasoline.

"Tesoro has a sufficient supply of crude at the refinery," Hokama said. "Even with the (Coast Guard) inspection, we have regular cargos of crude coming into the refinery. We can continue to make products."

The leak was detected just after midnight Saturday, about 20 minutes after the chartered tanker Front Sunda began pumping its load of 42 million gallons of crude oil, Hokama said.

Yesterday's flyover was done by members of the Coast Guard, Tesoro and the state Department of Health. The helicopter flight began at 8 a.m. yesterday from the site of the spill and extended along the Leeward O'ahu coastline, Hokama said.

"Nothing was seen," Hokama said. "No sheen was seen."

Concern remains for the effect to wildlife and marine animals, Hokama said. U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials had planned an inspection yesterday to determine if there was any harm done to wildlife, such as birds that might have taken oil back to their nests, Hokama said. The inspection was done as a precaution, he said.

The sun, winds and currents combined to help quickly dissipate the oil Saturday. Currents carried it southwest, away from O'ahu.

The Coast Guard's Johnson said she was confident there was no impact on the environment, but that state and federal agencies will continue inspections as a precaution.

"The oil has either evaporated or dissipated or been recovered at this point," she said.

Crews from the Clean Islands Council and the Marine Spill Response Corp. helped with the cleanup until it was called off Saturday.

The council sent seven ships to the area and Marine Spill Response deployed booms to corral the oil.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.