The Mississippi River Ship Channel remains closed to all vessel traffic from Mile 18 Above Head of Passes (AHP) to Mile 15 AHP due to response efforts to recover a capsized and sunk vessel.

There were reported five crewman onboard at the time the vessel overturned, three have been rescued and Search and Rescue operations continue to look for the 2 missing crew members and to locate the vessel.  The sunk vessel is an oil spill response vessel reportedly owned by the Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC).

The U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port indicated the channel could possibly be reopened with a slow bell request established at 2000 hours tonight, although the plans to reopen are not official.

The Crescent River Port Pilots Association’s President, Captain Michael Bopp indicated that eleven downbound ships are presently going to anchor.

Efforts to locate the sonar equipped vessels to help identify the location of the sunk vessel continue.