The Houston Ship Channel is closed for a third day and about 80 vessels are backed up as crews work to contain and clean up a 4,000-barrel fuel oil spill after a collision Saturday.
Workers have refloated a barge whose six tanks were carrying 22,000 barrels of ship fuel when the collision occurred near Texas City, Texas.
The barge, which was being towed by the vessel Miss Susan, was struck by the 585-foot bulk carrier Summer Wind, causing one of the barge’s tanks to leak its load of fuel oil, the Coast Guard said. The 52-mile shipping lane is a key transit route for fuel and chemicals from refineries along the Gulf Coast.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.