Coast Guard responds to submerged vessel near Corpus Christi, Texas
The U.S. Coast Guard says it responded to a submerged vessel in the Corpus Christi Channel near Corpus Christi, Texas on Friday.
At 8:09 a.m., Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi watchstanders were notified by the towing vessel Brock, that their 25-foot workboat began taking on water while being towed. No personnel were aboard the vessel at the time.
Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and diverted the crew of a Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Corpus Christi 26-foot Trailerable Aids to Navigation Boat to investigate.
Approximately 400 gallons of fuel was onboard the vessel at the time of sinking. A salvage plan was approved and Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi and Texas General Land Office personnel monitored the vessel recovery operations.
Due to the location of the submerged vessel, a safety zone was established from lighted buoy 31 to lighted buoy 38, resulting in a full closure of the channel.
At approximately 1:30 a.m., contractors were able to successfully recover the vessel from the channel. Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi incident management personnel confirmed there were no signs of pollution.
The Corpus Christi Port Coordination Team is working to prioritize vessel traffic through the channel. The current vessel queue as of 8 a.m. is zero vessels outbound and ten vessels inbound.