Five Tankers Leave Closed Section of Mississippi River for Gulf

By Robert Tuttle

July 27 (Bloomberg) -- Five tankers entered the Gulf of Mexico yesterday after exiting a section of the Mississippi River that is closed because of an oil spill, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said.

The ``foreign tankers'' were carrying petroleum products from refineries along the Mississippi and were allowed to leave, Petty Officer Chris McLaughlin said in a telephone interview. A 100-mile (160-kilometer) section of the river from the New Orleans area to the gulf was shut to vessel traffic after a ship struck a barge July 23, releasing about 419,000 gallons (1.59 million liters) of fuel oil into the river.

It is too early to say when the section will be reopened, McLaughlin said.

A ship called the Elver is being sent up the river to test whether vessels are able to move through the area without their hulls becoming contaminated with oil, McLaughlin said. Another test ship will be sent after the Elver finishes its voyage.

``From there, they will decide what to do,'' he said.

About 48,000 gallons of a mixture of oil and water have been cleaned from the river, McLaughlin said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Tuttle in New York at rtuttle@bloomberg.net.