The Coast Guard suspended its search for three crewmen who were missing after two towing boats collided at mile marker 123 in the Mississippi River near Luling, Louisiana.
The collision occurred about 5:30 on Sunday morning. The Coast Guard says the towing vessel Cooperative Spirit was going upriver when it entered a barge fleeting area and hit some barges before colliding with the towing vessel RC Creppel.
Four crew from the RC Creppel were thrown into the water. The boat sank in the river. A good Samaritan boat recovered one of the crew. The Coast Guard sent three search-and-rescue boats and a Dolphin helicopter to search for the others. They searched more than 835 nm for the next 67 hours before the operation was suspended.
In the collision, two barges carrying sulfuric acid broke away from the RC Creppel; one was damaged and an unknown amount of vapor was released in the air. The Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health was contacted for air monitoring. The monitoring is continuing, but the Coast Guard says there are no immediate health issues or concerns in the surrounding communities.
The Coast Guard initially closed the river for traffic between mile markers 121 and 123 but subsequently reopened it.
“This is a complex response that has a search-and-rescue component as well as a pollution component that will require planning and coordination to execute,” said Coast Guard Capt. Kristi Luttrell, commanding officer of Sector New Orleans.
As a personal aside, anyone who has cruised on the Mississippi, as part of the Great Loop or otherwise, has to be struck by the size and power of the towing vessels and their barges. I know I was. They demand your attention, particularly in bends in the river; it is incumbent on you to stay out of their way. Read more:
https://www.nola.com/news/article_56f6c1b8-4043-11ea-848e-e716fe018264.html
