The Aframax River, an 810 foot fuel tanker, caught fire on the Upper Houston Ship Channel which closed the channel and halted traffic until 3.31pm the next day, reported Click2Houston.
The vessel was believed to have had a large amount of low sulphur diesel on board when the bunker fuel spilled at approximately midnight on Monday August 5, 2016; the consequential fire burned for 14 hours.
See below for a video news report:
Peter Martin, Captain of the Port and commander of the Coast Guard sector Houston-Galveston, said: “This incident could have been much worse, but was mitigated due to the prompt and effective response of two Port of Houston Authority fire boats,”
“Additionally, environmental response experts from the Texas General Land Office and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were critical to assessing and mitigating the pollution threat while Harris County Sheriff's deputies enforced the federal safety zone to ensure public safety.”
