A collision between a barge carrying 924,000 gallons of fuel oil and a cargo ship over the weekend has left the Houston Ship Channel closed in efforts to contain and clean up the spill in Galveston Bay.
The US Coast Guard reported that wind and weather conditions have extended containment and recovery efforts further into the Gulf of Mexico.
An estimated 4000 barrels of fuel oil was leaked on 23 Mar—after the Kirby Inland Marine-owned barge, which was being towed by the company’s Miss Susan vessel to Bolivia from Houston—when the collision occurred.
The Coast Guard said that crews completed pumping the remaining fuel oil from the barge’s undamaged tanks onto another ship. The barge will then be moved from blocking the entrance to Galveston Bay.
Four skimming vessels, 24 response vessels and about 68,000ft of boom has been deployed in waters surrounding the incident site and along sensitive shorelines in the area. The Coast Guard reports an additional 141,000ft of boom has been staged for possible deployment.
image source: US Coast Guard
