NEW ORLEANS — The Lower Mississippi River opened for restricted traffic between mile marker 160 and 163, as of 10 p.m., Monday.
Coast Guard Sector New Orleans launched two shoreline assessment teams, Tuesday morning, to identify potential shoreline impacts on the Mississippi River and any recoverable oil product from the discharge, which took place yesterday.
A Coast Guard overflight took place from mile marker 165 to 80 to assess any sheen or oil products at 10:15 a.m. Other than a small amount of sheen near the incident location, no sheen or recoverable oil was observed during the overflight.
A Coast Guard Station New Orleans 45-foot response boat crew was deployed to conduct a shoreline assessment starting at mile marker 96 and moving upriver. No reports of recoverable product have been received by the shoreline assessment teams, nor have any facilities on the Lower Mississippi River reported pollution.
The Coast Guard is actively monitoring the situation of all three vessels and affected areas down river. The Coast Guard will continue to evaluate any potential impacts to the environment.
Diving operations to complete an on-scene damage assessment are pending due to poor visibility.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a report, Monday evening, that the motor vessel Privocean, a 751-foot bulk carrier, broke free from its moorings at Ergon St. James Facility and drifted down river and collided with the 98-foot towing vessel Texas which was moored at the time.
The Privocean continued to drift down river and also collided with the 816-foot tank ship Bravo at approximately 4 p.m., Monday.
The cause of the incident is currently under investigation.