HOUSTON -- A four-mile stretch of the Houston Ship Channel remained closed to marine traffic Monday after a barge slammed into a tower supporting a high-voltage electric transmission line, threatening to topple it into the channel.
Coast Guard officials said a towing vessel named Safety Quest was pushing three barges loaded with scrap metal about 6 a.m. Sunday when it smashed into a Baytown power line, which remained upright only with the support of one of the barges.
Officials said the section from Crystal Bay to the Blackwell Peninsula would remain closed until at least Tuesday night.
The closure means the bulk of the Houston Ship Channel – about 19 miles – will be blocked to incoming traffic.
"The situation is a little bit unstable right now," said Capt. Marcus Woodring. "The lines are sagging and we cannot allow any vessels to pass underneath with the unstable situation and chance of those lines falling in the water."
No injuries were reported, but the six-member boat crew moved to another vessel and to safety.
CenterPoint Energy officials said the power had been shut off to the line because crews had previously been working on a nearby tower. They said no customers had lost electricity following the crash.
Eighteen inbound vessels attempted to get into the port early Tuesday afternoon, and many remained anchored off the coast of Galveston. Twelve outbound commercial ships were also stuck.
The 25-mile waterway is lined by the nation’s biggest complex of petrochemical plants. The Port of Houston ranks first in the nation in foreign waterborne tonnage and imports and second in U.S. export tonnage and total tonnage.
"Anytime you see something like this, you hate it, because it’s affecting people and how they make their money," said Richard Zeno, a tugboat captain who was not involved in the crash but watched the teetering tower as he was fishing with his family Sunday.
Coast Guard officials said the ship channel handles more than $320 million in cargo and crude daily, meaning the Port of Houston could lose about $1 billion if the waterway stayed closed until Tuesday night. On average, between 30 and 40 vessels cross the channel daily. But it would take at least a week for the closure to begin impacting supplies to the numerous area refineries, a situation that would lead to greater economic consequences.
"Commerce, of course, is very, very important," said Chief Warrant Officer Lionel Bryant. "But we don’t want to put lives in jeopardy doing so."
"This is actually very difficult because the tower is actually sitting on the barge," Bryant said.
The Coast Guard said the boat’s owner is St. Louis-based AEP River Operations.
At a news briefing Tuesday, an AEP spokesman said this was the company’s first major accident.
"Our immediate concern was for our employees and the public and the environment," Keith Darling said. "Once we learned that everyone was safe and sound, then we immediately came down to Houston to work with the Coast Guard on the investigation."
The Coast Guard said that AEP will likely pay for the bulk of the cleanup effort, but that depends on the outcome of the investigation.
Several major oil companies have refineries along the ship channel. On Monday, Shell, Valero and ExxonMobil all said the closure hasn’t affected their business operations yet.
Bill Day, a spokesman with Valero, said a three-day closure would not disrupt production since the company wasn’t expecting a shipment until Wednesday. Even if that shipment was delayed, he said, the company could tap into its reserves without any problems.
On a much lighter note, sixteen boats have also been stuck at Allen’s Landing in downtown Houston. The Coast Guard told the Houston Yacht Club to stay put after its weekend cookout.
"We’re getting low on wine, so it could be a tragic thing if we don’t get help here soon," said Ed Matuszak, a yacht club member. "No—we’re kidding."
They said the Coast Guard told them they were not a high priority right now.
"We’re not expecting a chant of people to come rescue us," said club member Charles Griffey.
