☰

Empresas y finanzas

Old sunken vessel leaks fuel in Gulf: USCG


    HOUSTON (Reuters) - A vessel that sank long ago has sprung a fuel leak in the Gulf of Mexico near Port Arthur, Texas, and the U.S. Coast Guard was leading efforts to empty its tanks and clean up the spill, a spokeswoman said Friday.

    The vessel was outside shipping lanes and not interfering with vessel traffic, the Coast Guard said.

    A "very light sheen" that triggered a check for a pipeline leak turned out to be coming from a 417-foot-long ship found nearly buried in mud under 36 feet of water 6 miles off Texas Point in the Gulf of Mexico, the spokeswoman said.

    A team including divers was on scene to recover the estimated 16,000 gallons of fuel oil still on board the unidentified vessel, thought to be a World War II "Liberty" ship, the spokeswoman said.

    (Reporting by Bruce Nichols; additional reporting by Robert Gibbons and Joshua Schneyer; Editing by Walter Bagley)