Mississippi still blocked; divers recover body from ‘Lee III’

Mississippi still blocked; divers recover body from ‘Lee III’    The only access channel to the Mississippi River for deep-sea ships remains closed to traffic as the U.S. Coast Guard assesses ways to remove the partially submerged an offshore supply vessel that sank in the Southwest Pass near Pillotown, La., Feb 21 after colliding with a containership.
   Divers have recovered one body from the “Lee III,” and reported seeing two others in the wreckage.
   A Coast Guard spokesman said the “Lee III,” a 178-foot vessel owned by Houston-based Ocean Runner Inc., would have to be raised before the channel could be opened, which would be “later rather than sooner.”
   The Coast Guard reported on Tuesday that 32 deep-draft vessels were waiting to enter the Mississippi and 25 were waiting to depart.
   The five missing crewmen on the “Lee III” were identified as Joseph Brown, 44, of Vidor, Texas; Lawrence Glass, 65, of Mobile, Ala.; Daniel Lopez, 31, of Port Arthur, Texas; Raymond Norwood, 27, of Galveston, Texas, and Baldemar Villerreal, 54, of Lake Jackson, Texas.
   Crewmen on the 534-foot “Zim Mexico III,” the other vessel involved in the collision, said their ship had been damaged slightly and no one on board had been injured.
   Environmental cleanup contractors have recovered 630 gallons of the 30,000 gallons of fuel oil said to be on the “Lee III.”
   “The Coast Guard is working with the owners of the ‘Lee III’ and Bisso Marine Co. Inc., the company that has the contract for recovery and salvage operations. Every effort is being made … to reopen the river to maritime traffic in a timely and safe manner,” said Capt. Ron Branch, commanding officer of the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Office and captain of the port of New Orleans, in a statement Monday.