The Houston Ship Channel will remain closed through tonight as crew prepare to move a damaged vessel blocking traffic into the second-largest US port by tonnage.
Firefighters were preparing to seal the damaged hull of the Carla Maersk with foam to safely move it. That work could conclude by 9pm ET and, if the seal holds overnight, crews could move the vessel tomorrow, the joint response center said.
The ship released MTBE when three port tanks were punctured in a 1:41pm ET collision yesterday with the bulk carrier Conti Peridot.
A queue of inbound and outbound ships began to grow overnight as agencies worked to clear the tanker.
A safety zone in place around the vessel, near Morgan's Point on the Houston Ship Channel, had halted 28 inbound and 24 outbound vessels as of 7am ET, according to the US Coast Guard.
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