THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 23, 1995 TAG: 9502230362
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The main shipping channels in and out of Hampton Roads were closed Wednesday afternoon, disrupting commerce in the port, as the Coast Guard searched for the wreckage of a sunken barge and tug.
No one was aboard the barge or the tug, and no one was hurt in the sinking just west of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel about 10 p.m. Tuesday. A second tugboat was towing the barge which was carrying the tug to a Norfolk shipyard for repairs.
Neither the barge nor the piggyback tug was carrying fuel.
The Coast Guard, concerned that the wreckage could be in one of the channels and pose a threat to passing ships, closed the channels at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The closing of the channels through the bridge-tunnel area bottled up the main shipping lanes in the port.
``It is causing a disruption,'' said Jim Brickett, dispatcher for the Virginia Pilot Association. ``We're right now holding three ships that were supposed to sail and two ships that were coming in. They had to drop anchor.''
Four more vessels were due to enter the port Wednesday night, and two others were scheduled to sail, Brickett said.
While the closing did not affect Navy operations Wednesday, it could today.
``We do have ships getting under way later in the day, and whether they're affected depends on how long it remains closed,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Susan Haeg, a spokeswoman for the Atlantic Fleet, which has about 120 ships stationed at Norfolk Naval Station and Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base.
The Coast Guard is investigating why the barge and tug hauler, Mowbray Tug and Barge of New Jersey, took 12 hours to report the sinking, said Lt. Cmdr. Eric Washburn.
Coast Guard rules require marine accidents to be reported immediately.
The sinking was initially reported to be in an anchorage near the bridge-tunnel, but the channels were closed six hours later when the tug and barge had not been found.
The Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers searched for the vessels all day Wednesday.
They had found an ``object'' as of 5 p.m. Wednesday and were waiting until they confirmed it was the tug and barge before reopening the channels, Washburn said.
``What we found was not in the channel, and it's in 42 feet of good water,'' Washburn said.
The tug and barge are owned by Wright Dredging Co. of Chesapeake. Company officials could not be reached Wednesday evening.
The barge and tug were being moved from Philadelphia to Colonna's Shipyard Inc. in Norfolk for repairs. ILLUSTRATION: Color map
by CNB