Two 297.5’ steel tank barges at an Ohio River terminal near Evansville, Ind., broke loose when their mooring arrangement failed in high-water conditions due to an undetermined cause, possibly related to debris in the river, the National Transportation Safety Board reported Thursday.
The barges at the Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) terminal dock at mile 793.8 on the right descending bank of the Ohio river were carrying diesel fuel and gasoline when they broke free at mile 793.8 around 4:45 a.m. April 16, 2024.
The two barges contacted mooring cells about 1,500 feet downstream at the TransMontaigne terminal at mile 794.1. The barges were later recovered with minor damage. There were no injuries, and no pollution was reported. Damage to the TransMontaigne dock structure was estimated to exceed $2.5 million.
“River conditions at the time were high, with the gauge at Evansville at 38.8’ and rising (the river peaked 4 days later, on April 19, at 39.8’),” according to a narrative in the NTSB’s final report. With the current was about 3 mph, “a total of six lock lines and four winch wires were used to moor the two barges (three lock lines and two wires on each barge).”
Around 6 a.m. terminal operations workers arrived and found the barges missing. About 6:50 a.m., terminal operations personnel performed a visual inspection of the dock and found all six lock lines and four winch wires broken.
Tow operators Evansville Marine Services reported a drift pile of debris 100’x200’ in the water about the time of the breakaway. Terminal camera footage appeared to show a debris pile that followed the barges after the breakaway
The barges were recovered by Evansville Marine Services tugs near mile 802 about 7 a.m. and returned to the MPC facility dock. No significant damage was noted to the barges, and all cargo was offloaded without problems, and no pollution was reported in the incident.
The TransMontaigne terminal reported damage to its dock structure, which consisted of four mooring Cell no. 3 sustained significant damage to the upstream piling structure and concrete cell cap. Cell no. 2 sustained fracture damage to its concrete cap.
The NTSB concluded “the probable cause of the breakaway of barges MPC 907 and MPC 644 and their subsequent contact with downstream mooring cells was a failure of their mooring arrangement in high-water conditions due to an undetermined cause, possibly related to debris in the river.”
