Houston Shipping Channel Temporarily Closed After Tanker Collision

2019-05-12T04:19:37+00:00May 12th, 2019|Domestic, Shipping News|

Already plagued with severe weather, flooding, and legislative battles, the Houston Shipping Channel has been struck with yet another setback.

On Friday, May 10that 3:30 PM, a 755-foot liquefied petroleum gas carrier, The Genesis, collided with two barges, containing 25,000 gallons of reformate each, being pulled by a tugboat.  Reformate is a colorless, flammable intermediary stage of gasoline during its production that is toxic to wildlife.  Fortunately, reformate is also light allowing it to float on the surface and evaporate, instead of sinking to the bottom of the channel. One barge capsized, while the other bears a center gash from the collision.

Air monitoring remains on alert for the city, but over 1,300 tests have confirmed no dangerous levels of exposure.

Portions of the Houston Shipping Channel are closed and may impact freight operations as the incident occurred near the Port of Houston’s container terminals.

As Green continues to monitor the situation, stay up-to-date on freight news by following us on FacebookTwitter, and LinkedIn or, subscribe to Green’s Freight Talk blog to received updates directly to your email.

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