The oil barge that hit Thursday night the Richmond-San
Rafael Bridge was carrying over 2 million gallons of oil that could have
spilled making the Cosco Busan spill from two months ago look like a minor
accident.
Today the 300-foot-long barge will be moved by the
authorities from the base of the bridge. They will try to see why the barrage
ran into the bridge, San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Even though the barge was carrying 63, 000 barrels there was
no spill of it into the bay, according to the Coast Guard. It didn’t bring any
damage to the bridge either.
The accident occurred just as two tugs were dragging the
barge through the thick fog from Rodeo. That’s when the right end of the
vessels struck a fender of the western tower.
According to Coast Guard Petty Officer Jonathan Cilley, the
barge is now near Red Rock.
He didn’t know the destination of barge’s cargo.
Cilley said: "There are plans today to move the barge
to a place where they can remove the oil, make repairs and check the structural
integrity (of the barge). Caltrans will also investigate the bridge
today."
According to him, Thursday night an inspection was carried
out by Caltrans officials.
On this inspection it was drawn the conclusion that the
bridge’s fender was damaged, according the sayings of agency spokeswoman
Phyllis Moore.
The barge Cascades is owned by K-Sea Transportation Partners
LP, having its headquarters in New Jersey
and transports petroleum products domestically.
"I think it's in the best interest of the vessel owner
to get the export off the barge," Cilley said regarding the moving of the
vessel. “Even though there hasn't been any fuel leaking or water intruding,
it's still not seaworthy,” he added.
According to Coast Guard Capt. John Long, the cause of the
accident will be investigated as from today.
He said: "Some of the things we'll look into are
mechanical failures on the tugboats, human error, fatigue and other
factors."
The Coast Guard sent a vessel in 40 minutes at the site of
the accident on Thursday night.
It appears that the barge was damaged, but not on the side
where the oil is stored.
