THE Houston Ship Channel has been partially reopened after a tanker collided with a tug that was pushing two barges last Friday near Bayport, Texas, which caused an estimated 9,000 barrels of petrol blend stock to spill into the waterway.
The channel was partially opened on Sunday for one-way ship and two-way barge traffic, according to a release by the unified command, which is comprised of the US Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office and Kirby Inland Marine.
Forty-three ships made their way through the channel during a 24 hour-period while 56 vessels were queued to enter inbound and one was waiting to go outbound, said unified command join information spokesman Greg Beuerman.
The cause of the incident remains under investigation, according to a statement by the unified command.
Lightering of the product from the damaged barge, which spilled the petrol blend, was expected to have been completed and the barge is reported to have been taken to a local shipyard.
Lightering of the second barge, which overturned in the waterway, was expected to begin this week, and 'it's premature to say when that might start or how long that might take,' Mr Beuerman said.
'That process is complicated because the barge of course is upside down,' he told American Shipper.
Eight skimmers were used while 334 federal, state and local response personnel engaged in both planning and implementing the response and clean-up operations, the unified command said.
WORLD SHIPPING
The channel was partially opened on Sunday for one-way ship and two-way barge traffic, according to a release by the unified command, which is comprised of the US Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office and Kirby Inland Marine.
Forty-three ships made their way through the channel during a 24 hour-period while 56 vessels were queued to enter inbound and one was waiting to go outbound, said unified command join information spokesman Greg Beuerman.
The cause of the incident remains under investigation, according to a statement by the unified command.
Lightering of the product from the damaged barge, which spilled the petrol blend, was expected to have been completed and the barge is reported to have been taken to a local shipyard.
Lightering of the second barge, which overturned in the waterway, was expected to begin this week, and 'it's premature to say when that might start or how long that might take,' Mr Beuerman said.
'That process is complicated because the barge of course is upside down,' he told American Shipper.
Eight skimmers were used while 334 federal, state and local response personnel engaged in both planning and implementing the response and clean-up operations, the unified command said.
WORLD SHIPPING