There were reports on Friday April 7th of capsized and sunken freight barge Vengeance leaking diesel fuel and hydraulic oil south of the San Francisco-to-Oakland Bay Bridge. The USCG is on site executing a cleanup of diesel fuel and oil that was released from the barge. The USCG said that the maximum potential release is estimated at 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 300 gallons of lube oil. The National Response Corporation Emergency Services were contracted to deploy 3,000 feet of hard boom.
Tugboat Gene Dunlap (IMO 7227358) grounded off a beach near Seattle, Washington on April 7th, later being towed back to a dock after repairs were made by crew. No oil was spilled during the incident. The 1972-built unmanned tugboat was being towed by another tug when it began taking on water. It was then intentionally pushed into shallow waters off Seattle’s Golden Gardens beach so that it would not sink. Crews from several responding agencies were able to stem the flow of water from a failed shaft seal and tow the vessel off the beach and through the Hiram Chittenden Locks in Ballardand. The vessel was then taken to dry dock in Seattle. According to database Gene Dunlap is entered with UK P&I on behalf of Member Dunlap Towing Company.
Double hull barge RCT 150 (IMO 9269037), which grounded in the Hudson River on April 4th, came away without damage to its hull, according to inspections at the Reinauer Transportation Companies headquarters at Staten Island. The barge went aground around 08:30 at a stone channel marker on the west side of the river in heavy fog. It remained grounded, surrounded by Coast Guard, New York state and local response agencies, until it was freed on Tuesday by a rising tide. No details of insurance of vessel found in P&I databases.
Tanker Midvolga 2 (IMO 9735139) was scheduled to leave Barcelona’s port on April 7th, heading to Rostov-on-Don with an estimated date of arrival of April 18th. Midvolga 2 was detained on March 20th following a collision with trawler El Fairell about three miles south of the port while en route to Alexandria. The shipowner paid a bond of €300,000, imposed by the Maritime Captaincy as a guarantee of the sanction file for serious misconduct against safety in navigation, to expedite the vessel’s release. The first officer of the tanker had already deposited a guarantee of €50,000 imposed by a court in Barcelona, which has charged him with two reckless killings on trawler El Fairell, based on alleged gross negligence while navigating the tanker. An investigation had shown that both vessels failed to comply with the applicable regulations of the Regulation to Prevent Accidents At Sea. According to database, Midvolga 2 is covered by Ingosstrakh through member Средне-Волжская Судоходная Компания (Sredne-Volzhskaya Sudokhodnaya Kompaniya — Sredne-Volga Shipping Company).
Oil products tanker Elisabet (IMO 9041875) was in collision with cargo ship Baita Jaya Samudera (IMO 8713108) in Thousand Islands waters, northwest of Jakarta, on the morning of April 7th, while en route to Jakarta. Elisabet suffered a breach on the starboard side and developed a list, leading to the evacuation of the crew of 13. Baita Jaya Samudera, which was being loaded with ammonium nitrate and was en
route from Sunda Kelapa Port to Tanjung Balai Karimun in Riau Islands, sank. Some minor injuries were reported. No insurance details of vessels found in P&I databases.
A section of the Mississippi River was closed to navigation on Friday morning after as many as 30 grain barges broke free from a tow, striking a lock and dam 22 near Saverton, Missouri, north of St Louis.
The US Coast Guard closed a four-mile stretch of the lower Ohio River near Brookport, Illinois, on Thursday after a tow boat pushing 19 empty barges and one loaded with steel struck a lock and dam 52. taking on water as a result. The vessel, owned by American Commercial Barge Line, had about 47,000 gallons of diesel on board, but no pollution was reported, said the USCG.
Some 20 people died, 27 were recused and more than 10 others were missing on Friday after a wooden boat carrying about 60 wedding guests hit a cargo ship and sank in southwestern Myanmar, local officials said The boat was unlit and hit a cargo ship on the river in the city of Pathein at about 19:20 local time. Rescuers were still looking for survivors, witnesses said.