Houston: A backlog of ships built up in the Houston Ship Channel on Tuesday while salvage companies worked with the US Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers to resolve the consequences of Monday’s collision and chemical spillage.
In a snapshot moment on Tuesday morning 36 ships were waiting to get in while 28 waited to get out. Among the vessels delayed were tankers carrying Mexican crude, Saudi crude and Kuwaiti crude.
Coast Guard officials estimated it would take several days to clear up the stretch of the waterway affected by the spillage of the gasoline additive MTBE, which is flammable and dangerous if inhaled in high doses.
It spilled when three tanks of the Danish-flagged Carla Maersk (44,999 dwt, built 1999) were ruptured as it collided with Liberian bulk carrier Conti Peridot (57,001 dwt , built 2011) on Monday.
Salvage crews were also trying to recover an anchor that broke off the Conti Peridot.
