The U.S. Coast Guard says bodies of two missing crew members of a dredger were found Saturday after an explosion a day earlier at the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The bodies of two missing crew members of a dredger were found Saturday after an explosion a day earlier in the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Two other crew members of the dredger Waymon L Boyd remain missing and the search for them continues, Coast Guard captain Jason Gunning said during a news conference on Saturday afternoon.
The blast occurred at about 8 a.m. Friday when the ship struck an underground pipeline, according to the Coast Guard, and Port of Corpus Christi officials said it was a natural gas pipeline.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the affected crews and their families,” Sean Strawbridge, CEO, Port of Corpus Christi, said Saturday.
“A full investigation is underway; however, search and rescue efforts are our first priority. It will not be clear for a while what the cause of this accident is, and any definitive statements to the contrary would be premature, “Strawbridge added.
The Waymon L Boyd will be owned by Houston-based marine construction contractor Orion Marine Group.
“We appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard and other respondents in their efforts to recover our missing crew members,” Orion CEO Mark Stauffer said in the statement.
The fire on board the ship was first extinguished Friday afternoon, but erupted again and was eventually burnt out at about 10 a.m. Friday, shortly before the ship broke apart and sank, the Coast Guard said.
The ship carried a maximum of about 6,000 gallons of diesel, said Brent Koza, the regional manager for the Texas General Land Office, which investigates oil storms.
“We have identified that and prepared for it as our worst discharge scenario,” and diesel is being recovered from the canal and surrounding environmentally sensitive areas, Koza said.
Brooke West, a spokeswoman for the Texas Environmental Quality Commission, said air quality tests had not found any air pollution and river water tests were planned.
“TCEQ will collect water samples from the shipping canal near the scene of the incident … this is still an active emergency response event,” West said.
.
