Barge breaks free off New Jersey and drifts into Virginia

A container barge drifted over 100 miles after a tow line snapped in a late 2009 storm off the Eastern seaboard.

The November incident took place about 30 miles out from the entrance to Delaware Bay, where La Princesa was being towed by the tug Sentry. Both units are owned by Crowley Maritime Corp. and were bound from Puerto Rico to New Jersey.

According to a Crowley spokesman, 45 knot winds and 25 foot seas parted two steel tow lines. Some of the barges’ containers carried medical equipment and pharmaceuticals and others carried concentrated rum. Because of the rum’s flammability, it was considered to be hazardous.

Eventually the barge grounded on a beach in the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach. It posed a threat to a nearby fishing pier. Two Titan Maritime employees were lowered from a Coast Guard helicopter onto the barge’s deck; two ballast tanks were opened and the barge was stabilized. After the weather calmed, the ballast was discharged and it was pulled offshore with the assistance off three tugs.

Damage to the tug was said to be minor.

Source: Professional Mariner