Oil spill shuts down lower Mississippi

The Coast Guard has closed a portion of the river to vessel traffic following an incident in which a Singapore-flagged cargo ship collided with a pier and began leaking diesel fuel Thursday morning.    The U.S. Coast Guard has shut down a portion of the lower Mississippi River near New Orleans to vessel traffic following an oil spill, according to a statement from the USCG 8th District.
   The Singapore-flagged cargo ship Pac Antares reportedly hit a pier at around 10:30 a.m. local time Thursday morning and began leaking diesel fuel into the river.
   No injuries were reported, and the leak was plugged after the vessel was towed to the Nashville Avenue Wharf, but not before approximately 4,200 gallons of oil had been released into the water.
   As a result, the section of the river between mile marker 91 and mile marker 101 has been closed for investigation and cleanup. The Coast Guard Sector New Orleans, Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans, National Response Cooperation, Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinators Office, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and OMI Environmental Standards are all involved in the response to the incident.
   U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Brandon Giles told American Shipper around 9:00 a.m. central time Friday that the portion of the Mississippi River remains closed. When asked when it will reopen, he said, “We cannot speculate on that right now, but we are doing everything we can to reopen it as quickly as possible.”
   He said at the time that 25 vessels northbound (22 ships and three towboats) and 20 vessels southbound (14 ships and six towboats) were waiting to transit the area.
   “Response personnel are conducting an assessment of the impacted area and have established an Incident Command Post to coordinate response efforts,” USCG 8th District said in a press release. “OMI Environmental Solutions continue to deploy containment boom, sorbent boom and pads around the spill to contain and collect oil. They have deployed one skimmer at the site to skim the oil off the surface of the river and have four more are en route.”
   “First responders continue to work to minimize the environmental impacts and protect the public so the river can be opened to commercial traffic as soon as possible,” added Capt. Wayne Arguin, commander, Sector New Orleans.
   The cause of the incident has yet to be determined and is still under investigation.