The spill occurred after a barge collided with a towboat, media reports say

Feb 24, 2014 12:27 GMT  ·  By
Part of the Mississippi River is now closed to maritime traffic, an oil spill is the one to blame
   Part of the Mississippi River is now closed to maritime traffic, an oil spill is the one to blame

This past Sunday, it was announced that a 65-mile-long (roughly 105 kilometers) portion of the Mississippi River and the Port of New Orleans was closed to maritime traffic until further notice.

Media reports say that maritime traffic is no longer allowed in the region between Baton Rouge and New Orleans due to an oil spill that occurred on Saturday afternoon near Vacherie.

According to the United States Coast Guard, the spill occurred when a barge transporting light-crude oil collided with a towboat, International Business Times reports.

Thus, the 65-miles stretch of the Mississippi River is to remain closed until workers manage to contain and at least partly clean up the oil that leaked into the water in the aftermath of said collision.

In order to keep the Mississippi River from being further contaminated, the oil that remained in the barge involved in the accident had to be pumped into another such boat.

The same source tells us that, for the time being, the Coast Guard is unable to offer any information concerning the amount of oil that spilled into the Mississippi River.

What's more, specialists are still investigating the circumstances in which the accident occurred, and say that they are yet to figure out how and why the collision took place.

It is to be expected that the party responsible for this incident will be held financially liable to damage caused both to the ships, and to the Mississippi River.

Up until now, no injuries related to this incident have been reported. What's more, the Coast Guard claims that the vessels involved in the collision are secured.

Simply as a precaution, city officials in New Orleans decided to shut down public water-intake valves located on the river shortly after learning about the oil spill.

On Sunday afternoon, a total of 16 vessels found themselves unable to go downriver because of this incident. Besides, 10 vessels were waiting for permission to continue their journey upriver.