Ships collide, evacuation order lifted in Port Arthur

Update: The Coast Guard says the economic impact of the closure of the Sabine-Neches Ship Channel due to a collision and oil spill could amount to at least $55 million a day.

Port Arthur Police lifted a mandatory evacuation that was ordered after a collision between a tanker carrying crude oil and a barge near the Port caused crude oil to pour from a compartment at the bow of the tanker, according to information provided to KFDM News by the U.S. Coast Guard, Port Arthur Police and Jefferson County Emergency Management.

The Coast Guard has reported that as much as 450,000 gallons of oil may have spilled into the water following the collision at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Authorities in Port Arthur say the spillage might be much smaller, perhaps 1,000 barrels or about 40,000 gallons. 

"It certainly is a significant spill," said Capt. J.J. Plunkett with the U.S. Coast Guard. "We're working to clean it up, to address the safety concerns and then get commerce moving after we get it cleaned up."

The Coast Guard plans another news conference Sunday afternoon to update the oil cleanup.

A spokesman for the shipping company that owns the Eagle Otome, the ship that spilled the crude, said they're as anxious as the Coast Guard to get the oil cleaned up and reopen the waterway.

"This is very upsetting to us," said Richard Russell, a vice-president with the shipping company. "We've got the whole width and breadth of our company attacking this with our outside contractors, and we're doing everything we can to work with the Coast Guard to mitigate this damage and get the channel opened as quickly as possible."

Shortly before 6 p.m., Port Arthur authorities lifted a mandatory evacuation. Sgt. Ken Carona with Port Arthur Police told KFDM News the evacuation was done as a precaution due to hydrogen sulfide gas emitted from the oil. Carona says it's a nuisance and the levels aren't hazardous. The gas smells like rotten eggs and can be hazardous at high levels, causing eye irritation, a sore throat and cough, and shortness of breath when a person is exposed to small amounts. Breathing high levels of the gas can be lethal.

Carona says firefighters constantly monitored levels of the gas and it never rose to unsafe levels.

Port Arthur Police evacuated a 28 square block area from Canal to 7th as well as Houston Avenue to Beaumont Avenue, and Port personnel, as a precaution. A shelter was opened at 1308 9th Avenue for evacuees. The shelter remained open Saturday night even after the mandatory evacuation was lifted.

The Sabine-Neches Ship Channel and Intracoastal Waterway will be closed near the Port, according to Emergency Management Coordinator Greg Fountain. The waterway is a vital link between crude oil and refineries that need the crude to process into gasoline and other products.

Port Arthur Police Chief Mark Blanton says the barge crew was removed from the ship and taken to the Port Arthur Police Department while authorities removed the tanker crew. No injuries were reported.

The U.S. Coast Guard is overseeing the investigation. The Coast Guard and Texas General Land Office will oversee the oil cleanup.

Fountain says Emergency Management used the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office helicopter to get photographs and video to assist Port Arthur Police and the Coast Guard.

According to the latest information from Fountain, who completed a flyover of the scene early Saturday afternoon, and the Coast Guard, the 800 foot tanker Eagle Otome from Singapore was carrying crude oil inbound. Fountain says the crew lost the ability to control the tanker. According to Fountain, the Otome struck a vessel docked at the Port, and he says a towboat pushing barges then struck the Eagle Otome. The collision left a 15-by-8-foot hole in the Eagle Otome.

"They hit starboard bow to starboard bow, like cars hitting on the right side and head on," said Fountain. "The barge is stuck in the bow of the Eagle Otome. There is a substantial oil spill the width of the waterway, about 400 feet wide and two to three hundred yards long. A sheen goes back another quarter mile. A large amount of oil appears to be coming from the bow of the ship. Those kind of ships typically carry millions of gallons of oil, but the ship is comparmentalized and the oil coming out should only be from the damaged compartment."

The Coast Guard says a portion of the oil in the damaged tank has been moved to another holding tank on the ship.

Stay with KFDM News for the latest on the story.

PORT ARTHUR, Texas - From U.S. Coast Guard - The Coast Guard and agency partners have formed a Unified Command in response to an oil spill in the Port of Port Arthur, Saturday.

Vessel Traffic Service Port Arthur received notification at 9:30 a.m. reporting a collision between the towing vessel Dixie Vengeance and the two barges it was pushing, and the 807-foot tank ship Eagle Otome. As a result of the collision, the Eagle Otome sustained damage in the vicinity of the number one starboard tank, which was reported to be loaded with crude oil. The initial estimate of spilled oil is 450,000 gallons.

The Sabine Neches Waterway is closed to all vessel traffic along the City of Port Arthur's river front from Intracoastal Waterway mile marker 276 to mile marker 289. The Coast Guard has established a perimeter around the vessels in the vicinity of the reported spill to ensure the safety of the vessels involved as well as the safety of the responders.

No injuries have been reported.

The investigation to the cause is on-going.

Additional resources on scene include:

3 contracted boom vessels

4,000 feet of boom deployed with 10,000 feet of boom available Coast Guard Cutter Manowar 4, 25-foot Response Boat-Small from Coast Guard Station Sabine Pass Coast Guard Air Station Houston MH-65C helicopter crew