MOSCOW (MRC) -- Four members of a dredging vessel are missing after a fire and explosion near the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas, on Friday, causing the US Coast Guard to close the port’s inner harbor, reported Reuters.
Two injured crew members have been rescued from the dredging vessel Waymon L Boyd after it caught fire, while a search for missing crew members continues, the Coast Guard said.
The fire started shortly after 9:00 AM ET (1300 GMT) in an area referred to as “refinery row” because of its proximity to several refining facilities, according to a spokeswoman for the Corpus Christi fire department.
An investigation into the incident is underway. Authorities have not said what caused the explosion that sent six people to hospital. Local media reported an underwater pipeline was breached and a fiery explosion engulfed the vessel.
Names of the missing crew members have not been disclosed. The Coast Guard said the ship broke apart and sank. The four were working for Orion Marine Group, which was dredging in the Corpus Christi ship channel at the time of the explosion.
“We continue to work alongside the US Coast Guard, the Port of Corpus Christi Authority, TCEQ, and the other agencies to assist in the recovery of our personnel and the wider investigation into this incident,” said Orion Chief Executive Mark Stauffer.
As MRC wrote before, a dredging barge hit a natural gas liquids pipeline of Enerprise Products at the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas early Aug. 21, causing an explosion. "Shortly after 8 a.m. CDT today Enterprise Products Partners ("Enterprise") experienced a release of propane from a portion of its South Texas pipeline system at the Port of Corpus Christi. The incident resulted in a fire and unconfirmed reports of injuries," Enterprise said in a statement. "Initial findings indicate that the pipeline was struck by a third-party dredging barge working in the immediate vicinity, however a full investigation will be conducted to determine the cause." Enterprise "has isolated the affected segment of the pipeline," the company said.
We remind that Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPP), through one of its affiliates, has entered a long-term agreement with Marubeni Corp. of Japan, under which Marubeni will offtake polymer-grade propylene (PGP) produced from a second (PDH 2) plant currently under construction at EPP’s operations in Mont Belvieu, Tex., for supply to global customers. Concluded on June 16, the PGP offtake agreement is part of a long-term collaboration between EPP and Marubeni that also includes the export of liquefied ethylene, the first 25-million lb vessel of which loaded and sailed from EPP and Navigator Holdings Ltd.’s 50-50 joint venture marine terminal at Morgan’s Point, Tex., in early January, EPP and Marubeni said on June 30.
We also remind that in July, 2020, Enterprise Products conducted maintenance at its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Mont Belvieu, Texas. This PDH unit has the capacity of 750,000 mt/y of propylene.
Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
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