Authorities re-open Texas waterway to limited traffic

27 January 2010 20:55  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Authorities re-opened a Texas oil spill site to limited traffic on Wednesday after the damaged tanker was moved from the waterway, the US Coast Guard (USCG) said.

Three tugs escorted the tanker Eagle Otome to the Sunoco terminal in Beaumont late Tuesday, clearing a path for the first transit of the Sabine-Neches Waterway at Port Arthur, with more traffic scheduled for Wednesday evening, the Coast Guard said.

An unnamed military ship transited the waterway on Wednesday as a test run for allowing limited vessel movement through the channel, said petty officer Richard Brahm.

The 800-foot tanker, loaded with Mexican crude and heading upriver, collided with one of two barges loaded with benzene that were being pushed downriver by the tugboat Dixie Vengeance on the morning of 23 January.

The collision, which is being investigated by the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), ripped a hole in the hull of the tanker and spewed 11,000 bbl of oil in the waterway, creating the largest Texas oil spill since 1994.

The Coast Guard said 6,343 barrels of crude have been recovered, evaporated or dispersed naturally since the collision. Crews began unloading the tanker's remaining 570,000 barrels of oil from its undamaged cargo tanks early on Wednesday.

Neither the second barge nor the tug was damaged, and none of the barge's chemicals were spilled, according to the Coast Guard.

The busy waterway has been closed since the spill, leaving more than two dozen vessels stranded in the port of Port Arthur or waiting to enter. The Coast Guard said 14 ships are waiting to get in and 12 vessels await departure, with 70 towboats in the area unable to transit.

More than 900 workers have responded in the cleanup, with 65 vessels involved. The spill impacted nine miles of shoreline in the Port Arthur area.

Six oiled birds have been reported, with a cormorant, two pelicans and a heron being treated and cleaned. One cormorant and one kingfisher were found dead.

Four oil refineries are located in the area, and one - Motiva - cut production at its Port Arthur plant following the incident.

The petroleum market seemed unworried by the spill, and was pressured more by US data showing builds in oil product inventories last week. After the release of the data, crude futures fell below $73/bbl at one point before closing at 73.67 on Wednesday.

Before the spill, front-month NYMEX crude futures closed at $74.54/bbl.

($1 = €0.71)

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By: Lane Kelley
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