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Mustang Island News

23 Oct 2017

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.

06 Feb 2017

Video: Retired Ship Sunk to Form Artificial Reef

Photo: Matrix New World Engineering

Sinking a 6,000-ton, 371-foot former cargo vessel to help create an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico is a herculean feat, one only accomplished with strict adherence to rigorous federal and state environmental regulations. When the cargo ship Kraken was recently sunk 67 miles off the Galveston coast, Matrix New World Engineering helped the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Artificial Reef Program ensure that the vessel was free of environmental hazards and safe to support coral, fish, sea turtles and other aquatic life.

27 Dec 2016

Missing man's Body located in Corpus Christi Bay, Texas

A Coast Guard aircrew found the body of a 61-year-old fisherman Monday, after he was reported missing off Mustang Island earlier in the morning. The Corpus Christi Police Department notified Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi watchstanders at 7:35 a.m. The police reported that the man's wife was waiting in the car when he went wade fishing Sunday at about 11 p.m. They reported that she attempted to contact him when he didn't return and she fell asleep waiting for him, calling the police when she awoke. A Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew was immediately launched and joined a Corpus Christi Police Department boat, two Nueces County Fire Department boats and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shore search.

19 Jun 2015

Catamaran Race Starts with 2 Rescues

An Air Station Corpus Christi rescue swimmer is deployed for two rescues in the Gulf of Mexico and audio of a distress call from one of the mariners on VHF-16. (screenshot from USCG video)

The U.S. Coast Guard brought two men to safety Thursday after a sailboat capsized 3 miles offshore and rescued another man who went overboard 11 miles offshore; all were participating in the first leg of the Great Texas 300. After being postponed due to Tropical Storm Bill, the 100-mile stretch from South Padre Island to Mustang Island of the Great Texas 300 began early Thursday morning. The race ends in Galveston. At approximately 11 a.m., a manmade a distress call on VHF marine band radio channel 16…

07 Apr 2014

Update: Response Efforts Continue on South Matagorda Island

Photo courtesy of Texas City "Y" Response

Effective shoreline clean-up efforts are on-going, Saturday, along Mustang, South Matagorda and North Padre islands in response to the Texas City oil spill. As of sunset Friday, response workers have removed a total of 200,775 pounds of oiled sand and oiled debris from the shorelines of Mustang, North Padre and South Matagorda islands. These figures include 102,700 pounds of oiled material from Mustang Island, 93,550 pounds from South Matagorda and 4,525 pounds from shoreline around Bob Hall pier.

03 Apr 2014

Texas City Spill Clean-up Continues

More than 465 response contractors continued work today along the shores of Mustang and South Matagorda Islands and Padre Island National Seashore, employing conventional clean-up methods with rakes, shovels and buckets. A 9-mile stretch of shoreline along Matagorda Island is a primary emphasis of these crews today. “Federal and state wildlife agencies continue to be focused on protecting these sensitive areas for the benefit of wildlife and are working closely to coordinate with our partners in the cleanup operations,” said Nancy Brown, Public Outreach Specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. As of sunset on Wednesday, the Unified Command report that a total of 119…

30 Mar 2014

Coast Guard Matagorda Bay Responds to Further Oil Pollution

Beach, Matagorda Bay: USCG Photo

The US Coast Guard informs that clean-up and response teams from the Matagorda Bay Incident Command Post are responding to sightings of oil near North Padre Island and along sporadic portions of Mustang Island in Corpus Christi. Additional sightings also include tar balls in the area, although it is not clear whether the tar balls are the result of the March 22 spill near Texas City. However, response teams from Miller Environmental, who are engaged in combatting that incident, have mobilized to contain and collect those tar balls and oil in newly impacted areas as well.

29 Sep 2009

McClure Secures Port Aransas Ferry Assignment

Alan C. McClure Associates (ACMA), a naval architecture and engineering firm, recently announced that the company has been selected to develop shipyard construction-level detail drawings for the next generation of TxDOT ferries. ACMA will also be responsible for ABS and USCG compliance, as well as weight monitoring for assembly lifts during the construction period. The 160-ft double-ended, geared diesel-powered automobile and passenger ferries will have the ability to carry approximately 28 vehicles and 150 passengers. They will join the fleet operated by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) that offers free ferry service between Port Aransas on Mustang Island, and Harbor Island, a continuation of Texas State Route 361.

25 Aug 1999

Completion of Offshore Wells

The Houston Exploration Company announced the completion of offshore wells that should provide additional production beginning in the second quarter of 1999. Because of drilling activity during the first quarter, the company shut-in certain production from its Mustang Island A-31/A-32 region. Due to this shut-in and other factors, the Company expects first quarter 1999 production levels will average approximately five percent higher than the prior quarter's level. In the company's three-lease complex in the Mustang Island region on the shelf of the Gulf of Mexico, the Company successfully drilled its first well since acquiring the property in the fourth quarter of 1998. The Mustang Island A-32 B-8 well, a development well, was drilled to a total depth of 9,900 ft.