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Houston (Reuters) - A chemical tanker split a fuel barge in half on the Mississippi River on Wednesday, spilling thousands of gallons of fuel oil and forcing the closure of a 58-mile (93-km) stretch from New Orleans southward that could last for days, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said. Vessel traffic was halted after the 1:30 a.m. CDT (2:30 a.m. EDT) collision in which the MV Tintomara struck an American Commercial Lines barge, which spilled more than 400,000 gallons (1,560,000 liters) of No. 6 fuel oil into the river. "It's not the largest spill we've ever had, but it's a large one," said Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Rodney Mallett after visiting the scene. The river remained closed between Mile Marker 98, near the Harvey Canal, and Mile Marker 40, downstream from New Orleans near Port Sulphur, and at least 26 vessels were backed up awaiting passage as of 5:00 p.m. CDT Wednesday. The river could remain closed for days, and full cleanup could take weeks, a Coast Guard spokesman said. "They hope it won't take that long," he said. Three refineries with 560,000 barrels per day of capacity were in the affected area, although there were no reports of effects on refinery operations. Some are served by pipeline rather than by vessel traffic on the river. The Coast Guard was investigating a report that the crew on the tugboat Mel Oliver, which was pushing the barge at the time of the accident, was unlicensed. About 420,000 gallons of fuel, described as lighter than crude oil but heavier than diesel fuel, spilled from the barge. Nothing leaked from the Tintomara, which was carrying styrene and biofuels, officials said. <more>
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