The Houston Ship Channel was an arena for a second ships collision, just in a few days.
The M/T Carla Maersk and the Conti Peridot collided yesterday afternoon (March 9, 17:30 UTC). The accident occured while the bulk carrier Conti Peridot was trying to reach the Houston port and the Carla Maersk, a chemical tanker laden 216,000 gallons of the highly dangerous substance MTBE, was en route to Amuay Bay in Venezuela.
AIS Video replay of the collision was provided by VTExplorer.
Carla Maersk tanker ship collides with cargo ship Conti Peridot
The collision was possibly caused by the dense fog in the area. There were no serious injuries due to the accident, only two dock workers were taken to the near hospital for check, since they have been exposed to fumes.
The hit caused a break into one of the Carla Maersk tankers causing an unknown amount of MTBE to leak in the channel.
The MTBE is a colorless, flammable, fuel additive which may cause serious environment issues, since it has a limited solubility in water.
The USCG commander Captain Brian Penoyer stated that the leakage did not reach a significant dimensions, because it was stopped only 90 minutes after the first signal of the collision was received. Currently teams are examining the vessel's condition trying to determinate exactly what quantity of the toxic liquid has been spilled.
Images: USCG