US Houston Ship Channel closes Friday on sunken tow vessel

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The US Coast Guard (USCG)
closed the Houston Ship Channel Friday
afternoon after a tow vessel sunk, according to
a notice from Moran Shipping.

It is unclear how long the channel will be
closed as emergency responders are currently
conducting search and rescue efforts, said JJ
Plunkett of the Houston Pilots.

The closure is at Light 122, near where the
Lynchburg Ferry offers passage from La Porte to
Baytown.

Moran Shipping said efforts are underway to
minimize pollution from fuel leakage and
mitigate impact on channel traffic and that
salvage operations could take at least 48
hours.

The following image from VesselFinder.com shows
many tankers (orange) and cargo vessels
(yellow) in the channel.

Source: VesselFinder.com

Light 122 is on the right side of the image
near the entrance to the channel.

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