Spills

Tugs walley blessey and lake charles; sabine river, orange county, texas

NOAAORR-6879

issued
1992-03-11 00:00Z
status
cancelled 1992-03-25 00:00Z
self-cancels
1992-03-25 00:00Z
authority
NOAA OR&R
sea
Gulf of Mexico
position
30.058, -93.717
vessels
BARGE ALLOWED ITTUG BOOMED AROUND THE LEAKING BARGETUG LAKE CHARLESTUG WALLEY BLESSEY PUSHING TWO
source
incidentnews · first seen 2026-09-03 15:09Z

Original warning text

Tugs Walley Blessey and Lake Charles; Sabine River, Orange County, Texas.
Sabine River, Orange County, Texas.
1. On March 11, 1992, at approximately 0200, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Marine Safety Office (MSO) Port Arthur received a report of a collision between two tugs pushing barges at about mile marker 266 of the Sabine River in Orange County, Texas. The tug Walley Blessey pushing two loaded toluene barges had been westbound, and the tug Lake Charles had been eastbound at the time of the collision. The crew of the Walley Blessey determined that toluene was pouring from a damaged cargo tank on one of the toluene barges. The crew of the tug boomed around the leaking barge until they were notified by the USCG not to boom because of the danger of an explosion. The Gulf Strike Team was called at 0330 to provide traffic control. The tug's crew managed to plug the leak at 0245 by using a wooden plug wrapped in neoprene. The product was lost because the movement of the barge allowed it to slosh out of the [...]
2. COMMODITY: TOLUENE. MAXIMUM POTENTIAL RELEASE: 2100 GALLONS.
3. POSITION 30.058N 093.717W. NOAA INCIDENTNEWS 6879: https://incidentnews.noaa.gov/incident/6879

This area · spills & pollution incidents

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Timeline · 2 messages since 1992-03-11 · closed 1992-03-25

  1. Toluene barge; mile 265 on icww, tx1992-03-11 → 1992-03-25
  2. Tugs walley blessey and lake charles; sabine river, orange county, texas this message1992-03-11 → 1992-03-25

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