One Dead, One Missing After Oil Barge Fire near Port Aransas

Photo courtesy of US Coast Guard

One crewman is dead and another is missing after a barge carrying crude oil caught fire early Friday offshore between Port Aransas and Rockport.

The barge, headed to a refinery, caught fire about two miles offshore of San Jose Island, said Harbormaster Chuck West.

More than 140,000 barrels of crude were on the barge at the time of the incident, along with eight crew members.

Coast Guard officials said they received a mayday from the captain of the tug vessel Buster Brouchard around 4:35 a.m. saying that the vessel they were tugging, barge B255, was on fire and two crew members had gone missing.

The barge fire led to a temporary closure at the Port of Corpus Christi.

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• Written by Jill Fowler