Misunderstandings lead to collision and fuel spill in the 'Texas City Y'

摘要

"If you keep on coming, I'm going to get you," a pilot aboard a bulk carrier radioed to a tugboat pushing oil barges through heavy fog in Galveston Bay. Minutes later the vessels collided and 168,000 gallons of thick bunker fuel began pouring into the bay. The barge appeared out of a "ghost fog," the pilot told investigators probing the March 22 crash involving the ship Summer Wind and tug Miss Susan. Federal hearings in June revealed several factors contributed to the worst oil spill in the bay in two decades. The fact-finding could result in new rules of the road for congested shipping lanes at the terminus of the 53-mile Houston Ship Channel.