Sunken barge found south of St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A sunken barge loaded with grain was found Monday, a day after it was set free following a towboat accident on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis. The accident snarled traffic on the river for more than a day.

The barge was discovered near the bank about halfway between St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve, which is about 50 miles south of St. Louis. By midday Monday, about 15 miles of the river channel remained closed, with 17 towboats lined up waiting to get through, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard continued to investigate the accident that happened Sunday when the towboat John Paul Eckstein, owned by Paducah, Ky.-based Marquette Transportation, lost auxiliary power. The loss of power made it difficult to steer, and the tow struck a dock north of Ste. Genevieve, said Steve Crowley, vice president of operations for the company.

The accident caused all 25 barges to be set adrift, the Coast Guard said. Twenty-four of the barges were soon recovered, but one remained missing.

The Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers assumed it was sunk, but didn't know where. As a precaution, all river traffic was shut down between mile markers 130 and 145, north of Ste. Genevieve.

"We were unsure where it sank," Coast Guard Lt. Christian Barger said. "It could have sunk right in the middle of the channel. Obviously, it could have posed a real threat to navigation."

The Coast Guard brought in a survey boat equipped with multi-beam sonar that scanned the channel. By midday Monday, the sunken barge was found near the river bank and far enough away that the navigation channel could be reopened, Crowley said.

Barger declined to speculate when the channel would reopen.

Crowley said the tow's auxiliary power has been repaired, and the company has taken steps to ensure something like that doesn't happen again. He said there were 10 workers on board the tow at the time of the accident.

The company will be responsible for salvaging the barge, but Crowley said the salvage operation should not impact navigation. In addition to the sunken barge, six others were damaged, he said.

Marquette Transportation is one of the nation's largest operators of towboats. The company's Web site said a single barge can carry more cargo than 58 semis.

Barger said it is not uncommon for barges to break free from their tows, "but it's pretty unusual that it gets to this point."

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On the Net:

www.marquettetrans.com.