Fuel barge runs aground near the entrance to Tampa Bay

摘要

The Coast Guard is investigating what caused a large fuel barge to run aground at the entrance to the Tampa Bay shipping channel.rnThe incident happened at 1745 on April 2 while the tug Yankee was pushing a 441-foot barge, which was loaded with fuel oil. The barge grounded on a sandbar about three miles west of Egmont Key, the Coast Guard said.rnThat's not an area where commercial mariners typically operate, said Petty Officer Robert Simpson, a Coast Guard spokesman. The barge grounded near the well-marked entrance to the shipping channel.rn"They went outside of the channel," Simpson said.rnNo fuel leaked from the double-hull barge, which was stuck on the sandbar for two days and eventually had to be carefully lightered.