Guard Marine Safety Office Houston News

Crewmembers of Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Houston-Galveston are investigating the collision between the freight ship Napoleon and a tugboat with four barges in the Houston Ship Channel Monday night. A Coast Guard watchstander at Vessel Traffic Service Houston received the report of the collision via the pilot aboard the Napolean at approximately 10:40 p.m. According to the report the collision occurred while the Napolean attempted to over take the tug Jonathan Thomas, near buoy number 54, while heading out bound in the Houston Ship Channel near Redfish Bar in Galveston Bay. The collision caused the Jonathan Thomas's tow line to brake; setting the barges adrift, injuring one crewmen and damaging one barge and the tug.

A chemical tanker collided with a moored barge near the San Jacinto Monument on Dec. 15. The Captain of the Port Houston/Galveston closed the ship channel from San Jacinto Port Dock 4 to Light 133 due to oil spilled from the collision. The tanker Ievoli Splendor , a 544-ft. chemical tanker, was mooring up at the Vopak Terminal in Deer Park, Texas, when the collision with the Kirby Marine barge happened causing a spill of heavy grade fuel oil C5. Containment boom has been deployed around the ship and the dock to contain the fuel/oil. The extent of damage to the ship and barge is not known. The Ievoli Splendor is presently moored at San Jacinto Port Dock 5. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Houston and the Texas General Land Office are responding to the incident.

A chemical tanker collided with a moored barge near the San Jacinto Monument at approximately 9 p.m. today. The Captain of the Port Houston/Galveston closed the ship channel at 11 p.m. from San Jacinto Port Dock 4 to Light 133 due to oil spilled from the collision. The tanker Ievoli Splendor, a 544-foot chemical tanker, was mooring up at the Vopak Terminal in Deer Park, Texas, when the collision with the Kirby Marine barge happened causing a spill of heavy grade fuel oil C5. Containment boom has been deployed around the ship and the dock to contain the fuel/oil. The extent of damage to the ship and barge is not known. The Ievoli Splendor is presently moored at San Jacinto Port Dock 5. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Houston and the Texas General Land Office are responding to the incident.

The Coast Guard continues to monitor this afternoons well blowout for any signs of pollution in the northeast end of Trinity Bay. All five crewmembers aboard the oil platform were rescued safely and without injuries by a passing tugboat. Earlier this evening a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Houston took a Coast Guard environmental protection officer from Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Houston to the scene to assess the situation. They discovered a sheen on the water that is approximately one mile long and 40 yards wide. The owner of the platform, Master Resource, has hired a commercial contractor to respond to the sheen. They are currently on scene with two boats and 2000 feet of containment boom.

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a crewman missing from a tugboat that was sucked under a barge earlier this morning on the San Jacinto River. According to reporting sources, the 55-ft. tugboat Thoroughbred was sucked under a barge near the Southwestern Ship Yard/Kirby Marine Fleeting area one mile south of the I-10 overpass. Three crewmembers have been reported safe, however the fourth remains missing. A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Houston, and a rescue boat from Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Houston, are currently searching for the missing crewman. A second rescue boat from Station Galveston, Texas, as well as the Harris County Sheriff’s Department dive team have been asked to assist in the search.