Texas pilots under investigation after Port Arthur oil spill

An oil industry association's goal of no marine spill events for the year has gone by the wayside--in January.

“It’s not a great start to the year," particularly after industry set a target of zero spill incidents in 2010, said Bill Box, spokesman for Intertanko. He continued, “But if we don’t set zero as a goal, we’ll never get there.”

Box was referring to the 11,000 barrel spill on January 23rd in the Sabine-Netches Waterway at Port Arthur after the Eagle Otome collided with a bargeand tow unit pushed by a Kirby tug.

State pilot regulators have announced that they are to begin an investigation into the circumstances of the accident. While the names of the pilots on duty at the time of the collision have not been released, the pilot commission says that they were fully licensed by the Coast Guard and the state.

Traffic to the waterway was re-opened Wednesday. About 1,700 barrels of oil and 4,700 barrels of oily water have been recovered from the spill which affected a nine-mile long stretch of shoreline.

Source: Fairplay Daily News