Several barge incidents Polluted the mississippi.
The U.S. Coast Guard reported several separate barge incidents on the Mississippi River. Both the incidents reportedly polluted the mississippi river.
Incident 1:
In the United Bulk Terminal at mile marker 54, near West Point a la Hache, 22 barges broke free, some of them hitting other vessels.
Three deep-draft motor vessels transiting the river sustained damage after colliding with a few of the barges.
All 22 barges in the breakaway were loaded with coal and petroleum coke.
The Coast Guard closed the Mississippi River between mile markers 51 to 54 beginning at 12:58 p.m. Wednesday. As of Thursday the river remained closed from mile marker 50 to 53.
Incident 2:
Coast Guard Sector Lower Mississippi River watchstanders received a call reporting an allision involving a towing vessel and the Natchez-Vidalia Bridge at mile marker 363 on the Mississippi River. The towing vessel was transporting six barges, four reportedly loaded with slurry oil and two reported to be empty at the time of the incident.
The Captain of the Port closed the river to navigation well to the north, shuttering mileposts 363 to 438 – above the Vicksburg Railroad Bridge.
Incident 3:
On January 15, a section of the Mississippi River at mile 95 near the Crescent City Connection Bridge in New Orleans was closed to traffic for about seven hours Friday after an early morning allision between barges being pushed upriver and barges tied up at an oil facility on the west bank at Gretna, La.
Incident 4:
On January 13, the American River Transportation towing vessel Inez Andrea struck Pier 3 on the Vicksburg bridge, sending two of her 25 barges loose. One sank and the other was corraled.
Incident 5:
On January 12, the AEP River Operations towboat Ron W. Callegan and her tow of several dozen barges also struck the Vicksburg bridge. Nine barges containing coal broke away; four reportedly sank.
Incident 6:
Lastly, the SCF Liquids towboat Cynthia G. Esper and her tow of chemical barges allided with the Highway 49 bridge over the Mississippi in Helena, Arkansas on January 11. The bridge was closed for inspection but no damage was found; it was reopened early on Tuesday.
Incident 7:
Four barges broke away in the Helena incident; two containining several million gallons of denatured alcohol were damaged. A USCG spokesman said that salvors successfully removed the product from the barges – but that over a four day period, about 300,000 gallons leaked into the water.
The causes of all of the above incidents remain under investigation.
Source: Seafarers
