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Log inBarge accident causes alarm
Barge accident causes alarm
by Outspoken on Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:35 am
Barge accident causes alarm
No fuel spills but the incident brings out emergency crews.
By DAVID HENCH
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
The Coast Guard is investigating an accident in which an unloaded fuel barge hit a fender on the Casco Bay Bridge Wednesday morning.
The barge, which glanced off the fender, was not damaged and no fuel was spilled, but state and federal agencies responded in several vessels because of the potential for a major spill.
"When we hear things like this happen, we think worst-case scenario," said Coast Guard Lt. Lisa Tinker, command center chief for northern New England. "The first thing we look up is how much can this vessel carry, and we have to assume that's how much they have on board."
The barge and the tugboat that was towing it have a combined capacity of 300,000 gallons of fuel.
Initial reports of a fuel barge hitting the bridge triggered memories of the worst spill in Portland Harbor's history, in 1996, when the Julie N ripped open as it hit the old, much smaller Portland Bridge, spilling 180,000 gallons of heating oil into the Fore River.
On Wednesday, the 95-foot tugboat Ruby M, owned by Dann Ocean Towing of Tampa, Fla., was doing a side tow of the 328-foot barge Energy 6505, owned by Hornbeck Offshore Transportation of New Orleans. A side tow involves a tug lashed alongside a barge.
The vessels were leaving the Sprague Terminal after offloading 55,000 gallons of jet fuel.
As they approached the Casco Bay Bridge at 7 a.m., only three of the four drawbridge leaves opened, according to the Maine Department of Transportation. A malfunction in an electrical switch affected the lanes leading from Portland to South Portland, said Warren Knowles, who oversees moveable bridges for the department.
The tug was granted permission to pass because the 65-foot clearance at mean high tide was adequate for it to fit underneath, Knowles said.
As the vessels passed, the starboard side of the barge hit the fender on the South Portland side. Emergency officials speculated that the master of the tugboat may have been checking his clearance overhead.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=205831&ac=PHnws
Photos By Doug Jones/Staff Photographer
No fuel spills but the incident brings out emergency crews.
By DAVID HENCH
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
The Coast Guard is investigating an accident in which an unloaded fuel barge hit a fender on the Casco Bay Bridge Wednesday morning.
The barge, which glanced off the fender, was not damaged and no fuel was spilled, but state and federal agencies responded in several vessels because of the potential for a major spill.
"When we hear things like this happen, we think worst-case scenario," said Coast Guard Lt. Lisa Tinker, command center chief for northern New England. "The first thing we look up is how much can this vessel carry, and we have to assume that's how much they have on board."
The barge and the tugboat that was towing it have a combined capacity of 300,000 gallons of fuel.
Initial reports of a fuel barge hitting the bridge triggered memories of the worst spill in Portland Harbor's history, in 1996, when the Julie N ripped open as it hit the old, much smaller Portland Bridge, spilling 180,000 gallons of heating oil into the Fore River.
On Wednesday, the 95-foot tugboat Ruby M, owned by Dann Ocean Towing of Tampa, Fla., was doing a side tow of the 328-foot barge Energy 6505, owned by Hornbeck Offshore Transportation of New Orleans. A side tow involves a tug lashed alongside a barge.
The vessels were leaving the Sprague Terminal after offloading 55,000 gallons of jet fuel.
As they approached the Casco Bay Bridge at 7 a.m., only three of the four drawbridge leaves opened, according to the Maine Department of Transportation. A malfunction in an electrical switch affected the lanes leading from Portland to South Portland, said Warren Knowles, who oversees moveable bridges for the department.
The tug was granted permission to pass because the 65-foot clearance at mean high tide was adequate for it to fit underneath, Knowles said.
As the vessels passed, the starboard side of the barge hit the fender on the South Portland side. Emergency officials speculated that the master of the tugboat may have been checking his clearance overhead.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=205831&ac=PHnws
Photos By Doug Jones/Staff Photographer
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
