HOUSTON (AP) _ The Coast Guard says a barge accident that shut down the Houston Ship Channel will cause a nearly $1 billion economic loss as it distrupts traffic to one of the nation’s busiest ports.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Richard Brahm says the channel will be closed until at least Tuesday night. So far, nearly 30 vessels are waiting to cross.
Four miles of the channel were closed at 6 a.m. Sunday after a tug pushing three barges hit an electric tower. The tower tipped over and is precariously leaning on a barge. No power outages resulted. Brahm says CenterPoint Energy is using a crane to remove the tower.
The channel is the lifeline to the Port of Houston, the nation’s leader in foreign waterborne tonnage and imports and runner-up in U.S. export tonnage and total tonnage.
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