Coast Guard Reopens Lower Mississippi River

The Coast Guard reopened a three-mile stretch of the lower Mississippi River April 6, after determining that there was no need to recover oil that was discharged during a ship collision earlier that day. New Orleans-based units had closed the river to ship traffic after the 751-foot bulk carrier Pivocean broke free from its moorings, drifted downriver, and rammed into the 98-foot towing vessel Texas as the latter vessel lay moored. Pivocean continued to drift downriver until it collided with a second vessel, the 816-foot tank ship Bravo. Coast Guard aircrews conducted shoreline assessment, to determine if any of the three vessels released pollutants into the river. Poor visibility, so far, has prevented diving operations to assess damage to the ships below the water line. The cause of the incident is under investigation.