Grounded Barge News

The U.S. Coast Guard has opened the Red River from mile marker 40 to mile marker 42 for vessel traffic, Monday.   The Red River had been closed due to a barge that had run aground at mile marker 41, Sunday.   The Red River Express successfully lightered the grounded barge and re-floated it.

An interview with Rich Hobbie, the leader of the Water Quality Insurance Syndicate (WQIS), the largest underwriter of pollution liability insurance for marine vessels in the United States. Can you give our readers an overview of your business today. The Premium income and growth factors in the marine insurance industry are very stagnant right now. And competition is quite heavy in all areas. In the U.S. market and in the marine market in general, there are new players. The London market has gotten more aggressive over here.

U.S. Coast Guard crews are responding to a second grounded barge near Long Boat Key, Fla., from a tugboat that was beset by heavy weather Tuesday. Due to deteriorating weather, the barge spuds were unable to keep the 140-foot barge from drifting to the beach. Coast Guard incident management personnel from Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., are on scene overseeing the operation. No pollution has been reported. "We were monitoring the barge throughout the night, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric Garza, member of sector's incident management department. "It was anchored about one half mile from shore.

A 180-foot barge ran aground on Anna Maria Island after breaking free from a tug boat early Tuesday morning. Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector St. Petersburg received notification at 2 a.m., Tuesday, that the operator of tug Abe H was having difficulty steering due to weather and was unable to control the two barges he was pushing approximately one mile west off of Longboat Key. Watchstanders launched Coast Guard Cutter Hawk, an 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boat homeported in St. Petersburg, Fla., and a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew from Station Cortez to assist.

The 125-foot deck barge known as Weeks Barge 236 was refloated Thursday evening at approximately 6:15 p.m. after having been grounded and stuck on shore near Atlantic Beach, N.Y., the U.S. Coast Guard reported. The barge, which was being used to sand blast and paint the Robert Moses Causeway Bridge, went ashore after, according to crew members onboard the tug, a large wave separated the tow line between it and the 26-foot tugboat that was towing it on Monday night. The owners of the barge…

Federal, state and local agencies respond to a grounded barge in San Francisco Bay, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011. The barge, which was participating in dredging operations in the bay, began taking on water before it was pushed to a sand bar to prevent its sinking. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Sherri Eng.

On Nov. 18, two members of the American Salvage Association (ASA) successfully pulled a grounded barge, La Princesa, off Sandbridge beach in Virginia Beach, Va.  The barge had broken free from the tug Sentry and grounded on the beach near Little Island Pier in Virginia Beach, Va. Crews used two tugboats pulling together on the bow and stern of the barge at high tide to free it.  The U.S. Coast Guard was also on-scene and working together, the ASA members and the Coast Guard removed the barge and ensured the safety of the public and environment. Coast Guard inspectors and a member of the American Bureau of Shipping will survey the vessel to ensure it is seaworthy.  Once completed, the Sentry will tow the barge to its next port of call in Pennsauken, N.J.

The 580-ft barge La Princesa remains aground north of Sandbridge Pier in Virginia Beach. Titan Maritime, LLC, continues preparations for salvaging the vessel and will attempt to begin operations when weather and sea conditions permit. Members of the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Strike Team, the Virginia Port Authority’s Maritime Incident Response Team, the Virginia Beach Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Team and Crowley Maritime Corporation, the barge’s owner and operator, boarded the vessel earlier today to inspect the cargo for leaks and the vessel for structural integrity. As a result of the inspection, the Coast Guard, MIRT, the Virginia Beach HazMat team and Crowley determined that the barge and its cargo currently pose no foreseeable threat to the environment or to the community.

Netherlands-based towage and salvage specialist Multraship reported on Dec. 8 that it had successfully refloated the Stema Barge II after the 443 ft long vessel grounded in shallow water inbound to the Dutch port of Eemshaven with a cargo of rocks following the loss of its tow to the tug Hellas on November 16. After initial attempts by local tugs to refloat the barge had proved to be unsuccessful, Multraship was contracted on November 25 under a Lloyd’s Open Form 2000 agreement incorporating SCOPIC.

A member of the American Salvage Association (ASA) recently responded to the grounding of the Thor III, a 250’ x 72’ x 16.5’ deck barge carrying 4,000 tons of gravel and sand in a national sanctuary in the Turks and Caicos Island, BWI.  The ASA member lightered approximately 3,500 tons of cargo and then proceeded to patch, pump, and blow down the necessary compartments to float the barge from its grounded position, avoiding substantial damage to the sanctuary using the 2,000 HP tug El Morro.   “Professional salvors are available to respond to a variety of events and to help protect sensitive marine environments such as was done in this incident,” said ASA President John A. Witte, Jr.   “We are proud of this ASA member to be there with the right approach when called upon,” he continued.

The barge ITB-260 loaded with 3,324 tons of gravel capsized north of Gig Harbor, Wash., when the tide came in, causing the load of gravel to shift and eventually spill into the water. The tug Island Breeze was towing the barge when it reported to the Coast Guard that the barge was taking on water. Over three hours later the crew of the tug reported they had pushed the barge against the shore to prevent it from sinking. The Coast Guard is working with the owner of the barge to ensure the damage to the barge can safely be evaluated before being allowed to proceed. This incident did not result in the release of any petroleum products. The barge was transporting the gravel from Dupont, Wash., to Kenmore, Wash.. The Island Breeze is owned by the Seattle-based company Island Tug and Barge.

According to reports, the Coast Guard is monitoring a 110-ft. The barge was anchored when it broke free of its anchor line sometime during the night. Heavy winds and surf forced the barge onto a rocky cobble beach 1,000 yards east of the airport. The Marine Safety Detachment contacted Swenson Maritime Transportation who was in charge of the barge. They informed the Coast Guard that they were preparing to re-float the barge on the next high tide. The Swenson Maritime Transportation vessel Arch I and the Amak Towing vessel Kodiak King attempted to pull the barge free. Attempts will be made to re-float the Ava Lynn during high tide later this week. The Coast Guard is working with the Swenson Maritime Transportation, the Department of Natural Resources and the land owner Koniag Inc.

The Coast Guard has drastically increased its estimates of the amount of asphalt spilled from a grounded barge on the James River in Virginia, saying up to 63,000 gallons have leaked from a tank holding more than twice that much, according to a PilotOnline report. Most of it is concentrated beneath and along the sides of the 250 ft., nearly submerged barge, where divers were attempting to find the leak and plug it. More than 2,000 feet of oil containment boom surrounds the football field-size spill. No evidence of significant environmental damage has been seen yet, according to the report. The spill occurred about 4:30 a.m. Monday, five miles south of Richmond…

The U.S. Coast Guard issued a Press Release stating that a tank barge grounded in Chocolate Bayou and leaked an unknown quantity of its cargo of sulfuric acid. The remaining cargo is being offloaded.