Response to Barge Casualty continues Offshore Texas
The Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office, and Bouchard Transportation representatives continue to respond Sunday to an oil discharge from a barge that caught fire and was extinguished on Friday three miles off the jetties of Port Aransas, Texas. Response efforts continue to minimize impact to the environment and the maritime community, which has enabled the Coast Guard to reopen the impacted ship channels. Discharge from the barge cargo tanks appears to have stopped following the removal of 2,500 barrels of oil-water mix from the barge through lightering operations. Lightering is currently suspended due to weather, but will resume with improvement in sea conditions. Containment boom remains in place around the vessel, though sheening from the barge and containment boom is present.
NOAA to Hold Public Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska
NOAA's Hydrographic Services Review Panel (HSRP) is holding a Public meeting, May 22-24, 2012, Anchorage, Alaska. Navigation areas of focus for this public meeting include: NOAA's charting and hydrographic surveying products, services and information for the Alaska/Arctic region; and NOAA's geospatial, tide and currents products, services and information. Maritime transportation representatives presenting at the HSRP Anchorage meeting include: the Marine Exchange of Alaska, Crowley Towing, VITUS Marine, Alaska Marine Highway System, Alaska State Digital Mapping Program; as well as, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, Homeland Security, and the University of Alaska.
