Coast Guard Responds To Oil Discharge From Tanker on Mississippi

NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard is responding to a discharge of oil from a tanker ship Friday on the Lower Mississippi River near Kenner, La. 

Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders received notification yesterday at 6:08 p.m. that the tank vessel Hafnia Rhine discharged oil during a fueling operation with a fuel barge at Ama Anchorage, mile marker 115. Watchstanders dispatched Coast Guard pollution responders to the scene.

The crew of the Hafnia Rhine secured the oil discharge, but Sector New Orleans pollution investigators estimated up to 2,100 gallons of fuel oil entered the water and contaminated approximately 50-60 barges in the vicinity. 

The National Response Corporation and Environmental Safety and Health Consulting Services were hired as oil spill removal organizations. The OSROs have placed 2,700 feet of containment boom and 3,320 feet of sorbent boom around the affected area including the contaminated vessels and have utilized the use of sorbents to recover oil product.

The Coast Guard is committed to overseeing a timely cleanup of oil to mitigate environmental impacts through its coordination with partner agencies and the continued assessment of shorelines and waterways. 

There have been no reports of impact to wildlife. 

The cause of the discharge remains under investigation.

-USCG-