A section of the Houston Ship Channel, one of the world’s busiest trade waterways, were closed for several hours on Thursday after 500 gallons of the chemical benzene spilled from a tanker moored at the Vopak Terminal, according to the Associated Press.
Early accounts said the spill occurred on board the tanker Maritime Jingan and some of it reached the water.
US Coast Guard (USCG) and the Harris County Hazardous Material Response Team dealt with the incident which led to the closure of a stretch between the Lynchburg Ferry Crossing and Carpenters Bayou.
The leak from the Hong Kong-flagged Maritime Jingan – owned and managed by MSI Shipmanagement of Singapore – was contained and the Channel reopened after about three hours.
No injuries were reported and an investigation of the spill’s cause is under way.
