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Ship collision off Texas may produce huge oil spill

Sunday, January 24, 2010
WASHINGTON: A shipping accident off the coast of Texas on Saturday spilled an estimated 450,000 gallons of oil into the ocean, the US Coast Guard said.

The spill happened Saturday morning when a towing vessel, the Dixie Vengeance, collided with an 807-foot tank ship, the Eagle Otome.

"As a result of the collision, the Eagle Otome sustained damage in the vicinity of the number one starboard tank, which was reported to be loaded with crude oil. The initial estimate of spilled oil is 450,000 gallons," the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The collision happened near Port Arthur, in the south-east of Texas near the border with Louisiana.

In the wake of the crash, the Coast Guard closed a waterway and established a perimeter around the Eagle Otome and the Dixie Vengeance, which was towing two barges at the time of the collision.

The Coast Guard said no injuries had been reported, adding that it had deployed 4,000 feet of boom -- a flotating container of the oil spill.
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